There has been a lot written recently about the history of the Coventry Cross, but little has been written about what it all means.
The following description of the cross is from a booklet “The Coventry Cross 1976”, written by Virginia Gilbert a principal librarian with the City Council and Rolf Hellberg, who was the architect and designer of the 1976 cross.
Hellberg wrote “Since it is two centuries since the last trace of the Coventry Cross disappeared, it is necessary to go right back to the original instructions issued to the masons who built the Cross in the sixteenth century to accord with the wishes expressed by Sir Thoms Holles in his will.
“Holles specified the hexagonal form, the steps [no longer present], the three storeys with flying buttresses, the statues in niches, the flag bearing beasts and boys and gave the height of the Cross and the width of its lowest sides. There was, therefore, little difficulty in reconstructing the main parts of the structure, apart from the identification of the Kings and Saints who are depicted. The upper portion and finial was, however, a different proposition. A number of drawings of the Cross are available but as they were all done after demolition, they owe more to artistic license than accuracy and quite a few are not feasible at all.
“The reconstruction consists of a base storey with traceried “window” decorations, surmounted by heraldic beasts bearing flags. The second story has canopied niches with figures of Kings and the buttresses are here surmounted by naked boys with targes and flags. The third storey has Kings and Saints in the niches and is surmounted by further heraldic beasts bearing flags. These stand in front of large pinnacles, which form an open crown around the central column, which is itself decorated with figures of monks and is completed a finial feature of lantern form, housing the Virtues, an order of Angels. The lantern is surmounted by a golden crown.”
The cross has been rebuilt very closely matching this description but it is turned around by 90 degrees and is missing the four steps. Instead of a plain window feature at ground level, actual windows have been installed. These tell the story of Coventry and the Cross and give a view to a statue of King Henry VI inside the cross. This statue is a 3D printed replica of a statue which is currently located in the Herbert Gallery and is said to have featured on the original cross.
However, it is interesting that the 1976 Cross did not feature King Henry VI. Does this mean that the statue wasn’t on the original cross or did Rolf Hellberg and his team miss it out?
The Statues of the Coventry Cross
The statues on the Coventry Cross, in clockwise order from the side facing Holy Trinity Church, are:
First Level: beasts bearing pennons with the three Lions of England: the Lion of England, the Unicorn of Scotland, and the Griffin of Edward III and repeats. Kings: Henry V, Edward I in armour, Henry II wearing the Cap of Maintenance, John holding the Magna Carta, Richard I and Henry IV.
Second Level: naked boys bearing targes [shields] and pennons with the Red Rose of Lancaster. Kings and Saints: St. George, Edward III, St. Michael, Richard II, Christ and Henry III.
Third Level: Beast bearing pennons with the three Lions of England: the Bull of Clarence, the Dragon of Wales and the greyhound of Richmond. Saints and Monks: St. Peter, Benedictine monk, St. Christopher, White Friar, St. James the Less, Grey Friar.
Finial Lantern: six Angels of Virtue.
The Cross was designed by Rolf Hellberg and the sculptors were Phillip Bentham (who designed the Coventry Boy), Wilfred Dudeney and George Ford. George Wagstaffe designed the pennons.
The full set of photos of the Cross, including the Beasts, Naked Boys and Pennons can be found on our Flickr site.