2.1.10 Consecration

UNDERSTANDING THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE PLACE

1962 photograph of St Michael and the Devil by Sir Jacob Epstein 2.1.10 CONSECRATION Coventry Cathedral was consecrated on 25 May 1962. Queen Elizabeth II, accompanied by Princess Margaret, attended the service with the Queen signing the Sentence of Consecration during proceedings. The service was conducted by the Bishop of Coventry, Cuthbert Bardsley, and was attended by eight archbishops and 56 bishops. The congregation numbered over 2,000.12

The service saw the Bishop and the consecration party process through the ruined cathedral before descending the steps to the new building, following the route Spence had intended all visitors to take. During the following week, Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem, which interspersed a traditional Latin mass for the dead with poems by First World War poet, Wilfred Owen, was performed at the Cathedral for the first time.

Following the consecration, the Cathedral became a focus of national pilgrimage, with tens of thousands of visitors coming to see the building.

12 There is a substantial number of Pathe News reports regarding Coventry Cathedral, its construction and consecration to be found at - https://www. britishpathe.com/video/coventry-cathedral/query/coventry+cathedral The Consecration of Coventry Cathedral, 25 May 1962, Terence Cuneo

Queues of visitors to the Cathedral, 1962