Summary

Excavations uncovered the foundations of the cloister and architectural fragmens suggest it was built in the late 12th century. It was re-modelled in the late 14th or 15th century in the Perpendicular style.

Monument Type(s):

• PRIORY (Earlier Medieval to Later Medieval - 1101 AD to 1539 AD)
• CLOISTER (Earlier Medieval to Later Medieval - 1150 AD to 1539 AD)

Protected Status

• Conservation Area: Hill Top Conservation Area

Full description

1> The cloister occupies the second terrace on the northern slope of the hillside…There is no evidence for its date of construction and early appearance. As was discovered in the excavations of 1965-7, little remained of the arcade above foundation level. Of the hundreds of pieces of ex situ architectural stone work found in the vicinity, only two can be associated with an open Early Gothic arcade. Both are double capital blocks with foliate carving and date from the late twelfth century…The cloister alleys were evidently tiled during the lifetime of the priory…A small area was found preserved in the south aisle close to the doorway to the nave. These formed a chequered pattern of alternating yellow and green (also observed in the western nave) broken by the insertion of a single tile of floral/goemetric design-presumably an ad hoc repair…A number of doorways entered the cloister from the cathedral and surrounding claustral ranges. Of these, those of the chapter house and nave were preserved and most useful in elucidating phases of the cloister's development. The latter constructed in the Early English Gothic style provided the earliest in situ dating for the cloister and lay at the southern end of the west alley. The western jamb of this door, complete with its base block and a detached shaft, has been dated to c1220-50…A refurbishment of the cloister in the late 14th or 15th century was clearly indicated by the assemblage of architectural fragments found in the overlying demolition layer…

2>Excavations 1965-7: conventual buildings, built on N side of church, showed
similarities to those of Christ Church, Canterbury. Enough evidence recovered to
show extensive nature of both conventual buildings and Cathedral church, but a great
deal still to be verified by excavation. Also need to excavate in vicinty of past
excavations for pre conquest evidence.

<1> Coventry City Council, 2003, The Archaeology of the Medieval Cathedral and Priory of St Mary, Coventry, p.30-31 (--MONOGRAPH). SCT1279.

<2> Transactions of Birmingham & Warwickshire Archaeological Society, 1971, Excavations at the Cathedral & Benedictine Priory of St Mary Coventry (--ARTICLE). SCT551.

Sources and Further Reading

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• ECT133 - Cathedral and Priory of St. Mary Excavations 1999-2002 (Ref: COVE62)
• ECT65 - Excavations at the Cathedral and Benedictine Priory of St. Mary, Coventry 1965-67

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