CONSERVATION FRAMEWORK
5.3.10 INTERPRETATION See also:
Interpretation will equally be required to address those site-specific values that make the place special: •
5.3.9
Visitor facilities and access
5.3.13
Research and understanding
HERITAGE CONSIDERATIONS The interpretation of Coventry Cathedral is vital to ensuring all audiences can understand and engage with the place on a deeper level. The Cathedral has many stories to tell, with diverse and overlapping narratives. The interpretation plan73 identified four strands of interpretation: •
The Cathedral as a special place and an everyday space.
•
The Cathedral as one cohesive place of community and worship.
•
The Cathedral as a place of active reconciliation.
•
The Cathedral as a platform for cultural creativity.
•
Active place of worship – this will rely on the translation of the Cathedral’s mission and ministry statement in ways that makes sense to visitors. Both the Christian use of the building and the interpretation of iconography and liturgical spaces will be necessary. Concepts such as the Spence route can be included here. Peace and Reconciliation – attributes unique to Coventry Cathedral should be interpreted, as well as how these manifest in the building itself.
•
Post-War art and design – interpretation should be specific to Coventry Cathedral but could also engage audiences in the appreciation and understanding of 20th century architecture and its conservation.
•
Community and civic pride – interpretation that appeals to local people and draws an understanding of the Cathedral back into its context of Coventry as a city.
VULNERABILITIES AND CONFLICTS Currently there is no unified interpretation scheme offering key stories to visitors at the Cathedral. The Cathedral does not exploit the local, regional, national and international audiences that could visit the site. There is also a lack of volunteers to support a more varied interpretation plan and greater visitor numbers. Management of volunteers requires an investment in time and finances, which is currently restricted by staff workloads. The main challenge and conflict relates to perceptions of the new cathedral and the ruined cathedral – which are viewed by visitors as two separate entities. Secular and ecclesiastical visitors are often split by which specific building they visit. These two audience types are often at odds with one another and it is the Cathedral’s role to reconcile these as far as possible. The narrative of reconciliation is not currently engaging wider audiences and there is a need to communicate better the Cathedral’s position as a place of active reconciliation and what that means, or can mean, for individuals and communities today.75
As the audiences are, to an extent, unknowable, an overarching principle of the plan should be to have multi-layered and selfdirecting interpretation, allowing users to choose their own path at a level they feel comfortable with, but which encourages and challenges them to explore a variety of themes and areas.74
73
Coventry Cathedral Interpretation Plan, August 2019
74
Ibid
75
133
Ibid
