Search churches in Coventry
Find churches across Coventry and the wider West Midlands.
The cathedrals and historic churches
- Coventry Cathedral: two buildings, one church. The shell of medieval St Michael's stands open to the sky as a place of memory, joined at a right angle to Basil Spence's 1962 cathedral with its Graham Sutherland tapestry, Epstein's St Michael defeating the devil, and the great engraved glass screen. The Community of the Cross of Nails, born here, works for peace in conflict zones worldwide.
- Holy Trinity, Priory Row: the medieval parish church that survived the Blitz beside its neighbour, home to one of England's finest medieval Doom paintings above the chancel arch, rediscovered and restored in recent decades.
- St Mary's Priory ruins: remains of Coventry's original cathedral, dissolved under Henry VIII, visible near the cathedral quarter.
- St John the Baptist, Fleet Street: a fine medieval church whose history gave English the phrase "sent to Coventry".
Church life in the city today
Modern Coventry is a young, diverse manufacturing and university city, and its congregations reflect that. Anglican and Catholic parishes cover the estates and suburbs, Methodist and Baptist churches continue a strong Nonconformist tradition, and the city hosts thriving Caribbean, African, Indian and Eastern European congregations, particularly in Foleshill and Hillfields. Two universities feed student churches and chaplaincies, and newer plants meet in schools and community centres across the growing edges of the city. The cathedral's reconciliation ministry gives Coventry church life an outward-looking character: litanies of reconciliation are said in the ruins every weekday, and twin links connect the city's Christians with Dresden, Volgograd and beyond.
Browse Coventry churches in the directory
See every church we list in Coventry, or explore Birmingham, Wolverhampton and the Black Country on our West Midlands county page.
Practical notes for visitors
- The ruins are free to enter and open daily; the new cathedral welcomes visitors with a suggested donation, and services are always free to attend.
- The Litany of Reconciliation is said in the ruins at noon on weekdays, a brief and moving act of worship anyone may join.
- Holy Trinity is open most days; its Doom painting rewards a slow look with the lights on.
- The cathedral quarter is ten minutes' walk from Coventry station; Sunday services across the city mostly start between 10am and 11am.
Frequently asked questions
Why was a new cathedral built beside the ruins?
The decision, taken the morning after the 1940 raid, was to rebuild as a sign of hope rather than restore as if nothing had happened. Keeping the ruins joined to the new building lets the two speak together about destruction and forgiveness.
What is the Community of the Cross of Nails?
A worldwide network of over 200 partners working for peace and reconciliation, named after the crosses made from medieval nails found in the cathedral rubble. Its home remains Coventry Cathedral.