Coventry - Linda Monckton

The British Archaeological Association's 2007 conference
celebrated the material culture of medieval Coventry, the fourth
wealthiest English city of the later middle ages. The nineteen
papers collected in this volume set out to remedy the relative
neglect in modern scholarship of the city's art, architecture and
archaeology, as well as to encompass recent research on monuments
in the vicinity.The scene is set by two papers on archaeological excavations in
the historic city centre, especially since the 1970s, and a paper
investigating the relationships between Coventry's building boom
and economic conditions in the city in the later middle ages.
Three papers on the Cathedral Priory of St Mary bring together
new insights into the Romanesque cathedral church, the monastic
buildings and the post-Dissolution history of the precinct,
derived mainly from the results of the Phoenix Initiative
excavations (19992003). Three more papers provide new
architectural histories of the spectacular former parish church
of St Michael, the fine Guildhall of St Mary and the remarkable
surviving west range of the Coventry Charterhouse.The high-quality monumental art of the later medieval city is
represented by papers on wall-painting (featuring the recently
conserved Doom in Holy Trinity church), on the little-known
Crucifixion mural at the Charterhouse, and on a reassessment of
the working practices of the famous master-glazier, John
Thornton. Two papers on a guild seal and on the glazing at
Stanford on Avon parish church consider the evidence for Coventry
as a regional workshop centre for high quality metalwork and
glass-painting.Beyond the city, three papers deal with the development of Combe
Abbey from Cistercian monastery to country house, with the
Beauchamp family's hermitage at Guy's Cliffe, and with a newly
identified stonemasons' workshop in the 'barn' at Kenilworth
Abbey. Two further papers concern the architectural patronage of
the earls and dukes of Lancaster in the 14th century at
Kenilworth Castle and in the Newarke at Leicester Castle.