Editing Coventry (section)

==History==
<!-- NOTE: this is intended to be a summary of Coventry's history. Please put detailed history in the main History of Coventry article -->
{{Main|History of Coventry}}

===Origins and toponymy===
The [[Roman Britain|Romans]] founded a large [[fort]] on the outskirts of what is now Coventry at [[Baginton]], next to the [[River Sowe]]; it has been excavated and partially reconstructed in modern times and is known as the [[Lunt Fort]]. The fort was probably constructed around AD 60 in connection with the [[Boudican revolt]] and then inhabited sporadically until around 280 AD.<ref name="Lunt UoW">{{cite web |title=The Development and History of Lunt Fort |url=https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/classics/warwickclassicsnetwork/romancoventry/resources/lunt/development/ |publisher=University of Warwick |access-date=4 September 2022}}</ref>

The origins of the present settlement are obscure, but Coventry probably began as an [[Anglo-Saxon]] settlement. Although there are various theories of the origin of the name, the most widely accepted is that it was derived from ''Cofa's tree''; derived from a Saxon landowner called ''Cofa'', and a tree which might have marked either the centre or the boundary of the settlement.{{sfn|Walters|2019|pp=11–14}}

===Medieval===
[[File:St Mary's guildhall, Bayley Lane - geograph.org.uk - 886437.jpg|thumb|upright|[[St Mary's Guildhall]], dating from the 14th century, one of the surviving medieval buildings in Coventry]]

Around {{circa| AD&nbsp;700}} a Saxon nunnery was founded here by [[St Osburg's Church, Coventry|St Osburga]],<ref>[http://www.historiccoventry.co.uk/history/history.php#arden Coventry's beginnings in the Forest of Arden] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120101003627/http://www.historiccoventry.co.uk/history/history.php#arden |date=1 January 2012 }} Retrieved 29 September 2008</ref> which was later left in ruins by [[Canute the Great|King Canute]]'s invading [[Danes (Germanic tribe)|Danish]] army in 1016.{{sfn|Walters|2019|pp=11–14}} [[Leofric, Earl of Mercia]] and his wife [[Lady Godiva]] built on the remains of the nunnery and founded a [[Order of Saint Benedict|Benedictine]] [[monastery]] in 1043 dedicated to St Mary.<ref>{{harvnb|Fox|1957|p=3}}</ref><ref>[http://www.coventrycathedral.org.uk/History.html The history of Coventry Cathedral on the cathedral's website] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081014182646/http://www.coventrycathedral.org.uk/History.html |date=14 October 2008 }} Retrieved on 28 September 2008</ref> It was during this time that the [[Lady Godiva#Legend|legend]] of Lady Godiva riding naked on horseback through the streets of Coventry, to protest against unjust taxes levied on the citizens of Coventry by her husband, was alleged to have occurred. Although this story is regarded as a myth by modern historians, it has become an enduring part of Coventry's identity.{{sfn|Walters|2019|pp=16–20}}

A market was established at the abbey gates and the settlement expanded. At the time of the [[Norman Conquest]] in 1066, Coventry was probably a modest sized town of around 1,200 inhabitants, and its own [[Minster (church)|minster]] church.{{sfn|Walters|2019|pp=11–14}}

[[Coventry Castle]] was a [[motte and bailey castle]] in the city. It was built in the early 12th&nbsp;century by [[Ranulf de Gernon, 4th Earl of Chester]]. Its first known use was during [[The Anarchy]] when [[Robert Marmion (died 1144)|Robert Marmion]], a supporter of [[Stephen, King of England|King Stephen]], expelled the monks from the adjacent [[St Mary's Priory and Cathedral|priory of Saint Mary]] in 1144, and converted it into a fortress from which he waged a battle against the castle which was held by the Earl. Marmion perished in the battle.<ref>Davis, R. H. C., and Robert Bearman. "An Unknown Coventry Charter." The English Historical Review, vol. 86, no. 340, 1971, pp. 535. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/562717 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190824165206/https://www.jstor.org/stable/562717 |date=24 August 2019 }}.</ref> It was demolished in the late 12th&nbsp;century.{{sfn|Walters|2019|pp=28–34}} [[St Mary's Guildhall]] was built on part of the site. It is assumed the name "Broadgate" comes from the area around the castle gates.

The Bishops of [[Anglican Bishopric of Lichfield|Lichfield]] were often referred to as the Bishops of Coventry and Lichfield, or Lichfield and Coventry (from 1102 to 1541), and in the medieval period Coventry was a major centre of pilgrimage of religion.<ref>{{cite web |last=Berry |first=Karen |title=Coventry's history |url=https://www.coventry.gov.uk/local-history-heritage/coventrys-history |access-date=7 June 2024 |website=Coventry City Council }}</ref> The [[Benedictines]], [[Carthusians]], [[Carmelites]] and [[Franciscans]] all had religious houses in the city of Coventry. The [[Carthusians|Carthusian]] Priory of St Anne was built between 1381 and 1410 with royal patronage from [[Richard II of England|King Richard II]] and his queen [[Anne of Bohemia]]<ref>{{cite web |title=The story of Charterhouse |url=https://www.historiccoventrytrust.org.uk/visit/charterhouse/the-story-of-charterhouse/ |access-date=7 June 2024 |website=Historic Coventry Trust }}</ref> Coventry has some surviving religious artworks from this time, such as the [[doom painting]] at [[Holy Trinity Church, Coventry|Holy Trinity Church]] which features Christ in judgement, figures of the resurrected, and contrasting images of Heaven and Hell.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Doom painting – Medieval Coventry |url=https://medievalcoventry.co.uk/doom_painting/ |access-date=7 June 2024 }}</ref>

By the 13th&nbsp;century, Coventry had become an important centre of the cloth trade, especially blue cloth dyed with [[woad]] and known as [[Coventry blue]].<ref>{{cite web |title=First 'Coventry Blue' to be revealed at historic Weaver's House |url=https://coventryobserver.co.uk/news/first-coventry-blue-to-be-revealed-at-historic-weavers-house/ |access-date=15 September 2024 |website=Coventry Observer }}</ref> Throughout the [[Middle Ages]], it was one of the largest and most important cities in England, which at its Medieval height in the early 15th century had a population of up to 10,000, making it the most important city in the [[Midlands]], and possibly the fourth largest in England behind [[London]], [[York]] and [[Bristol]].<ref name="CovasCounty">{{cite web |title=Coventry as a County |url=http://www.historiccoventry.co.uk/history/history.php#county |publisher=Historic Coventry |access-date=10 September 2022}}</ref> Reflecting its importance, in around 1355, work began on a defensive [[History of Coventry#City walls|city wall]], which, when finally finished around 175 years later in 1530, measured {{convert|2.25|mi}} long, at least {{convert|12|ft}} high, and up to {{convert|9|ft}} thick, it had two towers and twelve gatehouses. Coventry's city walls were described as one of the wonders of the late Middle Ages.{{sfn|Walters|2019|pp=51, 110–111}} Today, Swanswell Gate and Cook Street Gate are the only surviving gatehouses and they stand in the city centre framed by [[Lady Herbert's Garden]].<ref>{{cite web |title=City Gates and Lady Herbert's Garden |url=https://www.historiccoventrytrust.org.uk/visit/city-gates/ |access-date=7 June 2024 |website=Historic Coventry Trust }}</ref>

Coventry claimed the [[city status in the United Kingdom|status of a city]] by [[time immemorial|ancient prescriptive usage]], and was granted a [[royal charter|charter of incorporation]] and [[coat of arms]] by [[Edward III of England|King Edward III]] in 1345. The motto "''Camera Principis''" (the Prince's Chamber) refers to [[Edward the Black Prince|Edward, the Black Prince]].<ref>{{cite web |date=30 January 2024 |title=Coat of arms (crest) of Coventry |url=https://www.heraldry-wiki.com/wiki/Coventry |access-date=7 June 2024 |website=Heraldry of the World }}</ref> In 1451 Coventry became a [[County of the City of Coventry|county in its own right]], a status it retained until 1842, when it was reincorporated into [[Warwickshire]].<ref>Home Office List of English Cities by Ancient Prescriptive Right, 1927, cited in {{cite book |title=City status in the British Isles, 1830–2002 |last=Beckett |first=J. V. |year=2005 |publisher=Ashgate |location=Aldershot |isbn=978-0-7546-5067-6 |page=12}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=16033 |title=The City of Coventry: Local government and public services: Local government to 1451 |access-date=15 January 2009 |work=A History of the County of Warwick: Volume 8: The City of Coventry and Borough of Warwick |publisher=British History Online |year=1969 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110525093659/http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=16033 |archive-date=25 May 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref>
[[File:Map of Coventry, cropped from Warwickshire - John Speed Map 1610.jpg|thumb|Map of Coventry by [[John Speed]], published around 1610, showing the street layout and the [[History of Coventry#City walls|city walls]].]]
Coventry's importance during the Middle Ages was such, that on a two occasions a national [[Parliament]] was held there, as well as a number of [[Great Council of England|Great Councils]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Short History – Medieval Coventry |url=https://medievalcoventry.co.uk/short-history/ |access-date=7 June 2024 }}</ref> In 1404, [[Henry IV of England|King Henry IV]] summoned a parliament in Coventry as he needed money to fight rebellion, which wealthy cities such as Coventry lent to him. During the [[Wars of the Roses]], the Royal Court was moved to Coventry by [[Margaret of Anjou]], the wife of [[Henry VI of England|Henry VI]], as she believed that London had become too unsafe. On several occasions between 1456 and 1459 parliament was held in Coventry, including the so-called [[Parliament of Devils]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Coventry's Medieval Timeline (1043–1547) – Medieval Coventry |url=https://medievalcoventry.co.uk/medieval-timeline/ |access-date=7 June 2024 }}</ref> For a while Coventry served as the effective seat of government, but this would come to an end in 1461 when [[Edward IV of England|Edward IV]] was installed on the throne.<ref>{{cite web |title=Coventry the 'Capital City'! |url=http://www.historiccoventry.co.uk/history/history.php#royalcov |publisher=Historic Coventry |access-date=1 September 2022}}</ref>{{sfn|Walters|2019|pp=57, 68–69}}

===Tudor period===
[[File:Fords Hospital Almshouse - Coventry.jpg|thumb|Ford's Hospital Almshouse.]]
In 1506 the draper Thomas Bond founded [[Bond's Hospital]], an [[almshouse]] in Hill Street, to provide for 10 poor men and women.<ref>{{cite web |title=History {{!}} Bond's and Ford's Hospital |url=https://bondshospital.org/history/ |access-date=7 September 2024 |website=bondshospital.org}}</ref><ref>[https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/warks/vol2/pp109-112#h3-0004 "Hospitals: Coventry Pages 109–112 A History of the County of Warwick: Volume 2".] ''British History Online''. Victoria County History. Retrieved 7 September 2024.</ref> This was followed in 1509 with the founding of another almshouse, when the wool merchant William Ford founded [[Ford's Hospital|Ford's Hospital and Chantry]] on Greyfriars' Lane, to provide for 5 poor men and their wives.<ref>Cleary, J. & Orton, M. (1991) ''So long as the world shall endure: the 500 year History of Ford's and Bond's Hospitals''. Coventry Church Charities.</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Culver |first=Ralph |title=Ford's Hospital Coventry |url=https://www.ourwarwickshire.org.uk/content/article/fords-hospital-coventry |access-date=7 September 2024 |website=Our Warwickshire }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Broster |first=Nicole |title=Ford's Hospital – Historic buildings |url=https://www.coventry.gov.uk/directory-record/49568/ford-s-hospital |access-date=7 September 2024 |website=Coventry City Council }}</ref>

Throughout the Middle Ages Coventry had been home to several [[monastery|monastic]] orders and the city was badly hit by [[Henry VIII]]'s [[dissolution of the monasteries]]. Between 1539 and 1542, monasteries, priories and other properties belonging to the [[Whitefriars, Coventry|Carmelites]], [[Greyfriars, Coventry|Greyfriars]], [[Benedictine]]s and [[Carthusian]]s, were either sold off or dismantled. The greatest loss to the city was of Coventry's first Cathedral, [[St Mary's Priory and Cathedral]] which was mostly demolished, leaving only ruins, making it the only English Cathedral to be destroyed during the dissolution. Coventry would not have another Cathedral until 1918, when the parish [[Coventry Cathedral|church of St Michael]] was elevated to Cathedral status, and it was itself destroyed by enemy bombing in 1940. Coventry therefore has had the misfortune of losing its Cathedral twice in its history.{{sfn|Walters|2019|pp=82–85, 160}}

[[William Shakespeare]], from nearby [[Stratford-upon-Avon]], may have witnessed plays in Coventry during his boyhood or 'teens', and these may have influenced how his plays, such as ''Hamlet'', came about.<ref>{{cite book|editor-last1=Nicoll|editor-first1=Allardyce|title=Shakespeare in his own age|date=1976|publisher=Cambridge university press|location=Cambridge [etc.]|isbn=9780521291293|edition=Repr.|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/shakespeareinhis0000unse}}</ref>

===Civil War and aftermath===
[[File:Swanswell Gate.jpg|thumb|Swanswell Gate, one of the remaining fragments of Coventry's city walls.]]
During the [[English Civil War]] Coventry became a bastion of the [[Roundheads|Parliamentarians]]: In August 1642, a [[Cavalier|Royalist]] force led by [[Charles I of England|King Charles I]] attacked Coventry. After a two-day battle, however, the attackers were unable to breach the city walls, and the city's garrison and townspeople successfully repelled the attack, forcing the King's forces to withdraw. During the [[Second English Civil War|Second Civil War]] many Scottish Royalist prisoners were held in Coventry; it is thought likely that the idiom "[[sent to Coventry]]", meaning to [[ostracise]] someone, derived from this period, owing to the often hostile attitude displayed towards the prisoners by the city folk.{{sfn|Walters|2019|pp=103–106}}

Following the [[Stuart Restoration|restoration of the monarchy]], as punishment for the support given to the Parliamentarians, [[Charles II of England|King Charles II]] ordered that the city's walls be [[Slighting|slighted]] (damaged and made useless as defences) which was carried out in 1662.{{sfn|Walters|2019|pp=110–111}}

===Industrial age===
[[File:Daimler_Grafton_Phaeton_1897.jpg|thumb|left|A [[Daimler Company|Daimler]] Grafton Phaeton; one of the earliest cars to be built in Coventry in 1897.]]In the 18th and early 19th centuries, silk [[ribbon]] [[weaving]] and [[watch]] and [[clock]] making became Coventry's staple industries. In the 1780s, the silk ribbon weaving industry was estimated to employ around 10,000 weavers in Coventry, and its surrounding towns like [[Bedworth]] and [[Nuneaton]]. Coventry's growth was aided by the opening of the [[Coventry Canal]] in 1769, which gave the city a connection to the growing national canal network. Nevertheless, during the 18th century, Coventry lost its status as the Midlands' most important city to nearby [[Birmingham]], which overtook Coventry in size.{{sfn|Walters|2019|pp=119–121}} During the same period, Coventry became one of the three main British centres of [[watch]] and [[clock]] manufacture and ranked alongside [[Prescot]], in [[Lancashire]] and [[Clerkenwell]] in London.<ref name="cwm">{{cite web |url=http://www.coventrywatchmuseum.co.uk |title=Coventry Watch Museum Project |publisher=Coventry Watch Museum |access-date=14 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190401015139/https://www.coventrywatchmuseum.co.uk/ |archive-date=1 April 2019 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.coventrykid.com/My%20Suddens%20Branches.htm|title=John Suddens, watchmaker|access-date=25 June 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090211214110/http://coventrykid.com/My%20Suddens%20Branches.htm|archive-date=11 February 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref> By the 1841 census the population was 30,743.<ref>{{cite book |title=The National Cyclopaedia of Useful Knowledge |date=1848 |publisher=Charles Knight |location=London |page=Vol V, p.46 |edition=First}}</ref>

By the 1850s, Coventry had overshadowed its rivals to become the main centre of British watch and clock manufacture, which by that time employed around 2,000 people. The watch and clock industry produced a pool of highly skilled craftsmen, who specialised in producing precision components,{{sfn|Walters|2019|pp=128–129, 143}} and the ''Coventry Watchmakers' Association'' was founded in 1858.<ref name=":9">{{Cite book |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/warks/vol8/pp222-241 |title=A History of the County of Warwick: Volume 8, the City of Coventry and Borough of Warwick |publisher=Victoria County History |year=1969 |editor-last=Stephens |editor-first=W. B. |location=London |chapter=The City of Coventry: Social history from 1700 |access-date=16 November 2024 |via=[[British History Online]]}}</ref>

As the city prospered industrially in the 18th and early 19th centuries, several Coventry newspapers were founded. These include ''Jopson's Coventry Mercury,'' first issued by James Jopson of Hay Lane in 1741; the ''Coventry Gazette and Birmingham Chronicle'', first published in 1757; the ''Coventry Herald,'' first published in 1808; the ''Coventry Observer,'' first published in 1827; and the ''Coventry Advertiser'', first published in 1852.<ref name=":9" />

The ribbon weaving and clock industries both rapidly collapsed after 1860, due to cheap imports following the [[Cobden–Chevalier Treaty|Cobden–Chevalier free trade treaty]], which flooded the market with cheaper [[France|French]] silks, and [[Swiss Made]] clocks and watches. For a while, this caused a devastating slump in Coventry's economy.{{sfn|Walters|2019|pp=143–144}}

A second wave of industrialisation, however, began soon after. Coventry's pool of highly skilled workers attracted [[James Starley]], who set up a company producing [[sewing machines]] in Coventry in 1861. Within a decade, he became interested in [[bicycles]], and developed the [[penny-farthing]] design in 1870. His company soon began producing these bicycles, and Coventry soon became the centre of the British bicycle industry. Further innovation came from Starley's nephew, [[John Kemp Starley]], who developed the [[Rover Company|Rover]] [[safety bicycle]], the first true modern bicycle with two equal-sized wheels and a chain drive in 1885.{{sfn|Walters|2019|pp=145–150}} By the 1890s Coventry had the largest bicycle industry in the world, with numerous manufacturers, however bicycle manufacture went into steady decline from then on, and ended entirely in 1959, when the last bicycle manufacturer in the city relocated.<ref name="CTbicycle">{{cite web |last1=Mullen |first1=Enda |title=When Coventry was the world's 'bicycle city' |date=9 December 2018 |url=https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/coventy-bicycle-industry-history-15526405 |publisher=Coventry Telegraph |access-date=4 January 2023}}</ref>

By the late-1890s, bicycle manufacture began to evolve into [[automobile|motor]] manufacture. The first [[motor car]] was made in Coventry in 1897, by the [[Daimler Company]]. Before long Coventry became established as one of the major centres of the [[British motor industry]].{{sfn|Walters|2019|pp=145–150}} In the early-to-mid 20th century, a number of famous names in the British motor industry became established in Coventry, including [[Alvis Car and Engineering Company|Alvis]], [[Armstrong Siddeley]], [[Daimler Company|Daimler]], [[Humber Limited|Humber]], [[Jaguar Cars|Jaguar]], [[Riley Motor|Riley]], [[Rootes Group|Rootes]], [[Rover Company|Rover]], [[Singer Motors|Singer]], [[Standard Motor Company|Standard]], [[Swift Motor Company|Swift]] and [[Triumph Motor Company|Triumph]].<ref name="BHOLcraftsandindustry">{{cite web |title=The City of Coventry: Crafts and industries, Modern industry and trade |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/warks/vol8/pp162-189#h3-0011 |publisher=British History Online |access-date=12 November 2022}}</ref> Thanks to the growth of the car industry attracting workers, Coventry's population doubled between 1901 and 1911.<ref name=":9" />

For most of the early-20th century, Coventry's economy boomed; in the 1930s, a decade otherwise known for its [[Great Depression in the United Kingdom|economic slump]], Coventry was noted for its affluence. In 1937 Coventry topped a national purchasing power index, designed to calculate the purchasing power of the public.{{sfn|Walters|2019|pp=161–162}}

=== Great War (1914–1918) ===
[[File:Monument in War Memorial Park in Coventry 14g06.jpg|thumb|upright|Cenotaph at the War Memorial Park.]]
Many Coventry factories switched production to military vehicles, armaments and ammunitions during the [[World War I|Great War.]] Approximately 35,000 men from Coventry and Warwickshire served during the [[World War I|First World War]],<ref>{{cite web |last=Eccleston |first=Ben |date=11 July 2014 |title=World War One: When 35,000 local men went off to war |url=https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/ww1-coventry-warwickshire-soldiers-7409387 |access-date=9 June 2024 |website=Coventry Live }}</ref> so most of the skilled factory workers were women drafted from all over the country.<ref>{{cite web |last=Waddington-COV |first=Jenny |date=6 November 2018 |title=World War One: How Coventry fed the Allied war machine |url=https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/ww1-coventry-munitions-factories-7419371 |access-date=9 June 2024 |website=Coventry Live }}</ref> Due to the importance of war production in Coventry it was a target for German [[zeppelin]] attacks and defensive anti-aircraft guns were established at Keresley and Wyken Grange to protect the city.<ref>{{cite web |last=Gibbons |first=Duncan |date=6 November 2018 |title=Watch out, Zeppelins! When Coventry looked with dread to the sky |url=https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/ww1-coventry-zeppelins-bombs-7425235 |access-date=9 June 2024 |website=Coventry Live }}</ref>

In June 1921, the [[War Memorial Park, Coventry|War Memorial Park]] was opened on the former [[Stivichall|Styvechale]] Common<ref>{{cite web |last=Broster |first=Nicole |title=History of War Memorial Park |url=https://www.coventry.gov.uk/war-memorial-park/history-war-memorial-park |access-date=9 June 2024 |website=Coventry City Council }}</ref> to commemorate the 2587 soldiers<ref>{{cite web |title=Coventry War Memorial Park Monument WW1 And WW2 |url=https://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/17407 |access-date=9 June 2024 |website=Imperial War Museums }}</ref> from the city who lost their lives in the war. The War Memorial was designed by [[Thomas Francis Tickner]] and is a Grade II* building.<ref>{{NHLE |desc=War Memorial in Coventry War Memorial Park |num=1410358 |access-date=9 June 2024 }}</ref> It was unveiled by [[Earl Haig]] in 1927, with a room called the Chamber of Silence inside the monument holding the roll of honour.<ref>{{cite web |last= |first= |date= |title=War Memorial Park, Coventry – Coventry |url=https://www.parksandgardens.org/places/war-memorial-park-coventry |access-date=9 June 2024 |website=Parks & Gardens }}</ref> Soldiers who lost their lives in recent conflicts have been added to the roll of honour over the years.<ref>Pevsner, N. and Wedgewood, A., ''The Buildings of England: Warwickshire,'' (1990), p. 267.</ref>

===Urban expansion and development===
[[File:Coventry_Broadgate_1917.jpg|thumb|left|Broadgate, Coventry, in 1917]]

With many of the city's older properties becoming increasingly unfit for habitation, the first [[Council housing|council houses]] were let to their tenants in 1917. With Coventry's industrial base continuing to soar after the end of the [[World War I|Great War]] in 1918, numerous private and council housing developments took place across the city in the 1920s and 1930s to provide housing for the large influx of workers who came to work in the city's booming factories. The areas which were expanded or created in this development included [[Radford, Coventry|Radford]], [[Coundon, Coventry|Coundon]], [[Canley]], [[Cheylesmore]] and [[Stoke Heath, Coventry|Stoke Heath]].{{sfn|Walters|2019|pp=153–169}} [[File:Coventry being redeveloped in 1936.jpg|thumb|Coventry city centre being redeveloped in 1936 during modernisation]]

As the population grew, the city boundaries underwent several expansions, in 1890, 1928, 1931 and 1965,<ref name="BHOLintro">{{cite web |title=The City of Coventry: Introduction |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/warks/vol8/pp1-23#h3-0002 |publisher=British History Online |access-date=30 March 2023}}</ref> and between 1931 and 1940 the city grew by 36%.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hunt |first=Cathy |title=A History of Women's Lives in Coventry. |date=2018 |publisher=[[Pen & Sword]] |isbn=9781526708526 }}</ref>

The development of a southern by-pass around the city, starting in the 1930s and being completed in 1940, helped deliver more urban areas to the city on previously rural land. In the 1910s plans were created to redevelop Coventry's narrow streets and by the 1930s the plans were put into action with Coventry's medieval street of Butcher Row being demolished.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-coventry-warwickshire-24934919 | title=How medieval Coventry was lost, say historians | work=BBC News | date=14 November 2013 | access-date=9 June 2022}}</ref> even before the war, the plans had been put in place to destroy the medieval character of Coventry.<ref>{{cite news |date=14 November 2013 |title=How medieval Coventry was lost, say historians |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-coventry-warwickshire-24934919 |access-date=14 April 2024 |work=BBC News }}</ref>

The [[London Road Cemetery]] was designed by [[Joseph Paxton]] on the site of a former quarry to meet the needs of the city.

===German bombing of Coventry===
{{main|Coventry Blitz}}
[[File:Coventry bomb damage H5600.jpg|thumb|Coventry city centre after the massive air raid of 14/15 November 1940]]

Coventry suffered severe bomb damage during the [[Second World War]]. The most severe was a massive [[Luftwaffe]] [[Strategic bombing|air raid]] that the Germans called Operation Moonlight Sonata. The raid, which involved more than 500 aircraft, started at 7pm on 14 November 1940 and carried on for 11 hours into the morning of 15 November. The raid led to severe damage to large areas of the city centre and to [[Coventry Cathedral|Coventry's historic cathedral]], leaving only a shell and the spire. More than 4,000 houses were damaged or destroyed, along with around three quarters of the city's industrial plants. Between 380 and 554 people were killed, with thousands injured and homeless.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/15/newsid_3522000/3522785.stm|title=BBC ON THIS DAY / 15 / 1940: Germans bomb Coventry to destruction|work=[[BBC News Online]]|date=15 November 1940|access-date=2 May 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101118111802/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/15/newsid_3522000/3522785.stm|archive-date=18 November 2010|url-status=live}}</ref>

Aside from London, [[Hull Blitz|Hull]] and [[Plymouth Blitz|Plymouth]], Coventry suffered more damage than any other British city during the Luftwaffe attacks, with huge firestorms devastating most of the city centre. The city was probably targeted owing to its high concentration of armaments, munitions, aircraft and aero-engine plants which contributed greatly to the British war effort, although there have been claims that [[Adolf Hitler|Hitler]] launched the attack as revenge for the bombing of [[Munich]] by the [[Royal Air Force|RAF]] six days before the Coventry Blitz and chose the Midlands city because its medieval heart was regarded as one of the finest in Britain.<ref>{{cite news |last=Morris |first=Steven |date=9 October 2009 |title=Coventry blitz: was destruction of medieval centre Hitler's revenge? |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/oct/09/coventry-blitz-hitler-revenge |access-date=28 June 2024 |work=The Guardian |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> Following the raids, the majority of Coventry's historic buildings were demolished by a council who saw no need of them in a modern city, although some of them could have been repaired and some of those demolished were unaffected by the bombing.

===Post-Second World War===
[[File:Belvedere over Coventry.png|thumb|A helicopter placing the [[Flèche (architecture)|Flèche]] (spire) on top of the new Coventry Cathedral in 1962.]]

====Redevelopment====
In the post-war years Coventry was largely rebuilt under the general direction of the [[Donald Gibson (architect)|Gibson Plan]], gaining a new pedestrianised shopping precinct (the first of its kind in Europe on such a scale) and in 1962 Sir [[Basil Spence]]'s much-celebrated new [[Coventry Cathedral|St Michael's Cathedral]] (incorporating one of the world's largest tapestries) was consecrated. Its prefabricated steel spire (flèche) was lowered into place by helicopter.{{sfn|Walters|2019|pp=170–186}}

Further housing developments in the private and public sector took place after the Second World War, partly to accommodate the growing population of the city and also to replace condemned and bomb damaged properties. Several new suburbs were constructed in the post-war period, including [[Tile Hill]], [[Wood End, Coventry|Wood End]], and [[Stoke Aldermoor]].{{sfn|Walters|2019|pp=170–186}}

====Boom and bust====
[[File:NSB Reynolds Coventry Market Way 1964.jpg|thumb|Market Way, 1964]]
[[File:The_Upper_Precinct_(geograph_7197057).jpg|thumb|Coventry precinct with spire of ruined cathedral in the background, part of the post-war redevelopment of the city centre]]

Coventry's motor industry boomed during the 1950s and 1960s and Coventry enjoyed a 'golden age'. In 1960 over 81,000 people were employed in the production of motor vehicles, tractors and aircraft in Coventry.<ref name="BHOLcraftsandindustry"/> During this period the disposable income of Coventrians was amongst the highest in the country and both the sports and the arts benefited. A new sports centre, with one of the few Olympic standard swimming pools in the UK, was constructed and [[Coventry City Football Club]] reached the First Division of English Football. The [[Belgrade Theatre]] (named in recognition of a gift of timber from the [[Yugoslavia|Yugoslavian]] capital city<ref name=":9" />) was also constructed along with the [[Herbert Art Gallery]]. Coventry's pedestrianised Precinct shopping area came into its own and was considered one of the finest retail experiences outside London. In 1965 the new [[University of Warwick]] campus was opened to students, and rapidly became one of the country's leading higher-education institutions.{{sfn|Walters|2019|pp=170–186}}

Coventry's large industrial base made it attractive to the wave of [[South Asians in the United Kingdom|Asian]] and [[Caribbean]] immigrants who arrived from [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]] colonies after 1948. In 1950, one of Britain's first [[mosque]]s—and the very first in Coventry—was opened on Eagle Street to serve the city's growing Pakistani community.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.localhistories.org/coventry.html|title=A brief history of Coventry|work=localhistories.org|first=Tim|last=Lambert|access-date=21 September 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120810131029/http://www.localhistories.org/coventry.html|archive-date=10 August 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The 1970s, however, saw a decline in the British motor industry and Coventry suffered particularly badly, especially towards the end of that decade. By the 1970s, most of Coventry's motor companies had been absorbed and rationalised into larger companies, such as [[British Leyland]] and [[Chrysler Europe|Chrysler]] which subsequently collapsed. The [[early 1980s recession]] dealt Coventry a particularly severe blow: By 1981, Coventry was in an economic crisis, with one in six of its residents unemployed. By 1982, the number of British Leyland employees in the city had fallen from 27,000 at its height, to just 8,000. Other Coventry industrial giants such as the tool manufacturer [[Alfred Herbert (company)|Alfred Herbert]] also collapsed during this time.{{sfn|Walters|2019|pp=170–186}}

In the late-1970s and early-1980s, Coventry also became the centre of the [[Two-tone (music genre)|Two-tone]] musical phenomena. The two-tone style was multi-racial, derived from the traditional [[Jamaican music]] genres of [[ska]], [[reggae]] and [[rocksteady]] combined with elements of [[punk rock]] and [[New wave music|new wave]]. Bands considered part of the genre include [[the Specials]], [[the Selecter]], [[Madness (band)|Madness]], [[The Beat (British band)|the Beat]], [[Bad Manners]], [[The Bodysnatchers (band)|the Bodysnatchers]] and [[Akrylykz]]. Most famously the Specials 1981 UK no.1 hit '[[Ghost Town (The Specials song)|Ghost Town]]' reflected the unemployment and desolation of Coventry at the time.<ref>{{cite web |title=Coventry, from 2 Tone Ghost Town to City of Culture |url=https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2021/may/28/coventry-2-tone-ghost-town-uk-city-of-culture |work=The Guardian |access-date=2 April 2023 |date=28 May 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=This article is more than 2 years old The Guardian view on two-tone nostalgia: the pride of Coventry |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/feb/11/the-guardian-view-on-two-tone-nostalgia-the-pride-of-coventry |work=The Guardian |date=11 February 2021 |access-date=2 April 2023}}</ref>

===21st century===
Some motor manufacturing continued into the early 21st century: One of the research and design centres of [[Jaguar Land Rover]] is in the city at their [[Whitley plant]] and although vehicle assembly ceased at the [[Browns Lane plant]] in 2004, the head office of the Jaguar brand returned to the city in 2011, and is also sited in Whitley. The closure of the [[Peugeot]] factory at [[Ryton-on-Dunsmore]] in 2006, ended volume car manufacture in Coventry.{{sfn|Walters|2019|pp=170–186}} By 2008, only one motor manufacturing plant was operational, that of LTI Ltd, producing the popular [[TX4]] taxi cabs. On 17 March 2010 LTI announced they would no longer be producing bodies and chassis in Coventry, instead producing them in [[People's Republic of China|China]] and shipping them in for final assembly in Coventry.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/transport/article7066364.ece|title=Manganese Bronze: Black cabs on the road to China|last=Lea|first=Robert|date=18 March 2010|work=The Times|location=London|access-date=3 April 2010|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120708065701/http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/transport/article7066364.ece|archive-date=8 July 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Since the 1980s, Coventry has recovered, with its economy diversifying into services, with engineering ceasing to be a mass employer, what remains of manufacturing in the city is driven by smaller more specialist firms. By the 2010s the biggest drivers of Coventry's economy had become its two large universities; the [[University of Warwick]] and [[Coventry University]], which between them, had 60,000 students, and a combined annual budget of around £1 billion.{{sfn|Walters|2019|pp=170–186}}

In 2021 Coventry became the [[UK City of Culture]]. A range of artistic and local history events and projects took place over the next year, including "Coventrypedia" and the creation of the Coventry Atlas local history map.