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,
History of Coventry UK Universities in the national league tables. Since its establishment, the University has incorporated the former Coventry College of Education in 1979, and has expanded its grounds to with many modern buildings and academic facilities, lakes and woodlands. Coventry University, which dates back to the foundation of Coventry College of Design in 1843, has a site in central Coventry. The earliest example of organised healthcare in Coventry was in existence by at least 1793. The General or Charitable Dispensary was financed by charity alone, and was intended for those who had "such claims to respectability" that they should be saved