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,
William Coventry, 5th Earl of Coventry Earl of Coventry and entered the House of Lords. In 1720 he was admitted to the Privy Council and appointed Lord Lieutenant of Worcestershire, a post he retained until his death. In 1724 he was successfully sued by Anne Coventry, the widow of Gilbert Coventry who was the previous earl, for her inheritance. Lord Coventry married Elizabeth, daughter of John Allen. She died in 1738. Coventry survived her by thirteen years and died in March 1751. His eldest son Thomas Henry Coventry, Viscount Deerhurst, predeceased him so he was succeeded by his second son George. William Coventry, 5th Earl of