Coventry Blitz the 1950s, designed by the architect Basil Spence. Spence (later knighted for this work) insisted that instead of re-building the old cathedral it should be kept in ruins as a garden of remembrance and that the new cathedral should be built alongside, the two buildings together effectively forming one church. The use of Hollington sandstone for the new Coventry Cathedral provides an element of unity between the buildings. The foundation stone of the new cathedral was laid by the Queen on 23 March 1956. It was consecrated on 25 May 1962, and Benjamin Britten's "War Requiem", composed for the occasion,
County of the City of Coventry County of the City of Coventry The County of the City of Coventry was a former county corporate of England which existed between 1451 and 1842. The county corporate covered an area of Warwickshire of around and contained the city of Coventry and the surrounding villages of Ansty, Asthull, Biggin, Binley, Caludon, Exhall, Foleshill, Harnell, Horwell, Radford, Stoke, Styvechale, Walsgrave, Wood End and Wyken. During the medieval period Coventry, a town in Warwickshire, became an important city. King Henry VI granted Coventry the status of county corporate, largely to reward the city for the support it had given him. This