The Coventry Society’s campaign to save the Coventry Cross came to fruition this month, with the unveiling of the rebuilt cross in front of Holy Trinity Church.
The Society gives credit to Cllr Jim O’Boyle, Cabinet Member for Regeneration, who promised that the cross would return and has now delivered on his promise.
The Society campaigned to save the cross back in 2018. Our campaign was supported by a petition of 1000 Coventry residents and Historic England. We feared that, like many previous works of public art, it would disappear into a corporation depot somewhere, never to be seen again. But we were wrong!
We also welcome the new location of the cross, in an attractive green area. This site is closer to the location of the original cross, which would have been in front of Primark.
The new design, although omitting the four steps around the original Cross, has new interesting features, including a 3D replica of a statue of King Henry VI which is currently in the Herbert Museum. New windows around the Cross tell its history.
The relocation of the cross was required by developers Shearer, who said that it was necessary to create an outdoor seating area for Turtle Bay, a new restaurant that they were trying to attract to the city at that time.
We are also looking forward to seeing the plans for a new work of public art at the previous site of the cross, which is required by the planning consent for the relocation. At the moment the site is empty and drab and adds nothing to the important Hill Top Conservation Area which it overlooks.