@hikingandhistory: After the bombing of Coventry Cathedral during the Coventry Blitz in 1940, two burned wooden beams were discovered lying in the shape of a cross among the ruins. They become known as the “Charred Cross.” It was to become a symbol of reconciliation, hope, and resilience after one of the darkest nights of the Second World War. Today, the original ruins still stand beside the new cathedral — and the Charred Cross is still displayed in the new cathedral. #coventry #ww2history #forgottenhistory #cathedral #britishhistory

Will :

Louie_JLynch :

Went to Coventry uni. Pleased to say I’d walk through the Cathedral most days in my way to campus. As a history student, this was such an epic part of the experience.

⁴MJB15 :

Max :

That was in nativity ; that’s the only place Ik it from

Opals owner ☺️ :

bertha✌️😁🌎🌞❤️ :

nanalittlebit :

Thank you for sharing 🙏🙏🙏

BinDerDunDat :

Sorry, that is wrong and a legend. Why do I know this? Because the vicar who picked the pieces of wood up and suggested they could be nailed together was my pastoral head at the Blue Coat School in Coventry. He told us that the suggestion was his. Revd Arthur Wales was the vicar of nearby St Mark’s church which is in Swanwell park. He spontaneously picked up three of the large medieval nails, which had also fallen to the cathedral floor that night. He tied them with wire into a crucifix. This Cross of Nails was eventually placed upon the stone Altar of Rubble built two months later from fallen masonry as ordered by the Provost of the Cathedral Howard. Churchill thought it would be a wonderful idea and suggested that it was a sign that God was on our side

bertha✌️😁🌎🌞❤️ :

so sad it was closed🥺 when i was there because the storm...

piusius_maxminus :

The new cathedral is ugly

Ilmatar :

Coventry Cathedral was a Gothic structure begun in the 14th century. On November 14, 1940, the German Luftwaffe conducted an 11 hour bombing raid, dropping over 4,300 incendiary devices. The cathedral was directly hit and completely destroyed. Workers clearing the ruins discovered two large charred wooden roof beams that had fallen in the shape of a cross. The cross was deliberately preserved as a symbol of reconciliation. Provost Hubert Howard declared Coventry would respond not with revenge but with forgiveness. A new modernist cathedral was built adjacent to the ruins in 1962. The ruins were preserved as an open air site, a visual record of destruction paired with a statement about rebuilding. The charred cross is one of three objects formally conserved and displayed alongside a stone altar cross and communion plate, all marked by fire and recovered from the rubble.

user2654218367349 :

Last time I went the roof was leaking in both cathedrals

lucy :

🥰🥰🥰