Chairman's Newsletter - June 2025

June 2025
 

 

     FRED ROE’S PAINTING of King George VI standing in the Coventry Cathedral Ruins on 16^th November 1940 can be viewed today in St Michael’s Hall in the Cathedral undercroft.   It has come into my mind because the Cathedral recently received a bequest from the estate of the late Mary Viner of a signed framed print of this painting.
     One of the treasures that is normally hidden from view in the Cathedral  Archives is the original sketch book used by Fred Roe as he prepared to work on the Cathedral Blitz painting. 
     The painting took Roe a year to complete.   He started work in 1941 and the sketchbook records that he made four visits to the Cathedral Ruins to capture the scene accurately.   Here are some of the preparatory drawings from his sketchbook.

 

     Fred Roe was a British artist known mainly for his historical paintings, a number of which featured scenes from the Tower of London, the life of Nelson, and other historical figures and events.  He was a regular exhibitor at the Royal Academy and a notable collector of antique furniture about which he wrote several books.   He died in 1947.
     The painting itself was commissioned by the Directors of Coventry Climax Engines Ltd., and they gave reproductions to all their employees with a note of thanks explaining that it was given “as a token of their admiration of the fortitude of their employees”.  
     The Directors wrote:  “Despite the terrors of the longest night’s air raid on record, and their own troubles at home, a great many employees arrived for work at the usual time next morning, and throughout the difficult time that followed, without power, heating, or protection from the weather, transport, canteen facilities, or comfort in their homes, contrived to work on in those parts of the factory where work was possible in order to maintain supplies of war equipment.”
     In the painting King George VI is standing to the left of Herbert Morrison (the Minister of Supply).   The other figures are (L to R) Captain Strickland, M.P., Captain Hector (Chief Constable of Coventry), Mayor Ald. John Moseley and Provost Dick Howard.
     The Mayor’s own story of the King’s visit was later written down by Andrew Ross, his great nephew.
     “Uncle Jack lived with Aunt Nell in a Victorian terraced house in the district of Earlsdon, about a mile from the City centre. A stray bomb from the Luftwaffe had exploded nearby and blew the front door in and shattered the windows.
     For many citizens there was little sleep on that night of awful destruction and Uncle Jack was no exception. He got no respite on the following day, either, with so many sites of wanton demolition to visit and inspect. On the morning of the 16th Uncle Jack was, perhaps unsurprisingly, later than usual getting up for breakfast. He hadn't shaved or put on a collar and tie when his wife called him down.
     After breakfast, Aunt Nell started sweeping up the broken glass and debris littering the front room when there was a loud knocking at the door. She called to the visitor explaining that the door was wedged in, and they'd have to go round to the back.
     A minute or so later she returned to the kitchen and looked out of the window.
"Jack," she exclaimed, "There's a gentleman in naval uniform coming down the back garden path". Uncle John scrambled to his feet and followed her gaze. "Heavens above, it's the King," he cried, "We'd better look sharp!"
     Sure enough King George VI had come to the city to see for himself the devastation wrought by 500 tons of high explosive German bombs and more than 30,000 incendiaries, and to offer comfort and sympathy to the citizens. As a matter of courtesy his first call was on the First Citizen!
     Uncle John lost no time and immediately escorted His Majesty on a tour of the ruined City Centre.”
 

 

     AT HOME I have a Cathedral film collection that I have accumulated over the years.   It includes a large number of old films and film extracts featuring Coventry Cathedral -  some long and some short, some good and some that are rubbish! 
     There are documentaries, home movies, newsreels shown on TV or at the cinema, online clips, and there are even TV dramas that used the Cathedral as a location.   Quite an oddball collection!
     If that appeals to you I am showing a selection of items at Coventry Cathedral on Film in the John Laing Centre on the following dates and you are welcome to join in.   The shows are all on Saturdays and start at 2pm finishing by 3.40pm.
 

 21^st June 2025
(1950s/1960s newsreels, Look At Life cinema short, CROSSROADS soap scenes, Pope Francis & Justin and more...)
12^th July 2025
(Gulf Prayers 1991, Most Popular 20th Century Building 1999, Machine On Black Ground art film, Lead Not Leave -Gordon Brown, Casket Of Jewels- Dr James Fox and more...)
26^th July 2025
(The construction of Coventry Cathedral 1950s - 1962.  Historic silent film taken by Barnard Reyner.   PREMIERE SHOWING since digitisation by the Friends of Coventry Cathedral.)

          

The Future of the FRIENDS

     THE FRIENDS IS encouraged by its constitution to be a dynamic body by the introduction at each AGM of three new members to the Friends Council.   New members bring with them new ideas to carry us forward.
This year’s AGM is on 4^th October 2025 (12.30pm), and there is room for three new members of the Friends Council.
     I have served the Friends as its Chairman since 2016, and it is now time for a change and for me to give way to fresh leadership.
     Would you join the Friends Council and help to carry us forward, or do you know someone who can help?
     Do you have in mind a suitable Chair of the Friends?
     Candidates do not necessarily have to be current members of the Friends as long as they have Coventry Cathedral in their hearts.   They can always join later!

Your help is vital to keep the Friends going.   Please pass your suggestions on to any of the Friends Council listed above.  

   DEAN JOHN WITCOMBE travelled to Berlin to take part in a German national service of remembrance for the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe (VE) Day held in the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church on 8^th May 2025.   The church has strong links with Coventry through membership of the Community of the Cross of Nails.
     The service was attended by the Federal State President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and other leading political figures as well as many ecumenical and international representatives.   It was broadcast live on German television.
     As part of the worship the Dean led the Coventry Litany of Reconciliation that was read in seven different languages. 
     The Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church is at the centre of Berlin. The original West Tower was partially destroyed during the bombing by the Allied Forces in 1943.    It has been left as a partial ruin as a memorial for peace between nations.

     I COULD NOT resist a return visit to Charterhouse last month when it reopened to the public under the management of the National Trust.   Last year’s outing by members of the Friends whet my appetite for a further taste of Coventry’s medieval history.   I was not disappointed and recommend it to you.
     Charterhouse (on the London Road, Coventry) is a medieval Carthusian Priory founded in 1388 that passed into private hands after King Henry VIII’s dissolution of the monasteries.   At the end of the 18^th century the house became the family home of Col. Sir William Wyley.   Wyley twice served the City of Coventry as its Mayor and served the Cathedral both as its Treasurer for 50 years and also as a Churchwarden.   He died in 1940 and by his will he left Charterhouse for the use of the citizens of Coventry.   In his will he also endowed a Cathedral canonry.
     In past newsletters I wrote about these links between Coventry Cathedral and Charterhouse, but Col Wyley is not the only connection.        Today Charterhouse stands in the parish of St Anne’s Church (above), and in the history of that church there are more Cathedral connections.   As you see from the photographs, St Anne’s church is not medieval, though it has taken the title of “St Anne” from the medieval title of Charterhouse Priory.
     During the First World War two buildings were erected on its site by the Coventry industrialist, Mr J N Siddeley – a man who played a significant role in the development of Coventry’s motor industry.   John Siddeley joined the Deasy Motor Car Manufacturing Company in 1909 and in time it became the Siddeley Deasy Company.   Ten years later the firm amalgamated with the car division of the Armstrong Whitworth Company and formed Armstrong-Siddeley Motors Limited.   That company produced luxury cars until the 1960s and in 1966 it merged with Rolls-Royce.
     Mr. Siddeley was created the first Baron Kenilworth in 1937 and later gave the famous castle, from which he took his title, to the nation.   He also gave a substantial endowment sum to the new Coventry Cathedral from the interest on which which the Cathedral still benefits.
     The wartime buildings that he erected were used by the city’s munition workers as recreation rooms and as a canteen.   I am told that even today in one of St Anne’s Church vestries there is a hole in the wall that was made originally to accommodate a projector used for film shows.
     After World War I the buildings were passed over to Coventry Cathedral for use as a Mission Church.   The new church was staffed by the Cathedral curates, starting with Rev R M Kelly, followed by Rev C K W Warren.   The Mission Church was enlarged and refurbished largely at Mr Siddeley’s expense until, eventually, on the 6^th December 1930 it was dedicated as a parish church – St Anne and All Saints.  
     Interestingly, before 1930, one of the Coventry Cathedral curates who looked after the Mission Church for a time was Rev J L Wilson (photo left).   Leonard Wilson went on in later life to become the Bishop of Singapore and subsequently the Bishop of Birmingham.   He was a major public figure while I was growing up, because he had written in the spirit of reconciliation about his time as a prisoner of the Japanese in Changi Prison.  He was tortured for many months and wrote:
     “In the middle of that torture they asked me if I still believed in God. When by God’s help I said, ‘I do,’ they asked me why God did not save me.   By the help of His Holy Spirit I said, ‘God does save me. He does not save me by freeing me from pain or punishment, but He saves me by giving me the spirit to bear it,’ and when they asked me why I did not curse them I told them that it was because I was a follower of Jesus Christ, who taught us that we were all brethren.”
     Bishop Wilson’s fortitude so impressed his captors that one of them took secret classes and was baptised late one night in the prison.   I recall that shortly before his retirement in 1969, Bishop Wilson returned to Coventry Cathedral to preach and to remember the days of his curacy.
     If these links are not enough, yet a further link between St Anne’s Church and Coventry Cathedral is to be found in the connections of each church with Romania.  
     For over thirty years Coventry Cathedral has actively supported work at Coventry Cross of Nails centres in Transylvania.   In recent years St Anne’s Church has given its basement rooms to become the official home of the Romanian Orthodox Parish of Saint Veronica and Saint Irodion (photo above).   Looking at the last census figures, there are more than 8,000 Romanian speakers living in Coventry, so the Sunday services are always well attended. 
     Charterhouse was crowded with visitors while I was there, so I wonder if the links with Coventry Cathedral might persuade them to visit us too.   How can we spread the word to them?
 

 

A
Personal
Glimpse
 

  THE FRIENDLY MONDAY meeting with Canon Nitano Muller provided us all with an insight into his move from South Africa.   It was fascinating to hear of his friendship with Archbishop Tutu and what he learned about reconciliation from the Archbishop.
         Canon Nitano is pictured welcoming Aldermen and members of the Coventry City Council and members of the public to the Annual Mayor Making Ceremony that was held in May in the Cathedral.