52°25N 1°30W, pop (2001e) 300 800. Modern industrial city in West Midlands, C England, UK; 150 km/93 mi NW of London; Benedictine priory founded in 1043, around which the town grew; important centre of clothing manufacture from 17th-c; University of Warwick (1965); Coventry University (1992, formerly Polytechnic); railway; vehicles, machine tools, agricultural machinery, telecommunications equipment, artificial fibres; old cathedral (1433) destroyed during World War 2; new cathedral designed by Sir Basil Spence (consecrated 1962); 15th16th-c Church of Holy Trinity; St Mary's Hall (1343), built for the merchants' guild; museum of British road transport; football league team, Coventry City (Sky Blues).
| City of Coventry | |
|---|---|
|
Shown within West Midlands |
|
| Geography | |
| Status: | Metropolitan borough, City (1345) |
| Region: | West Midlands |
| Ceremonial County: | West Midlands |
| Historic Counties: | Warwickshire, County of the City of Coventry |
|
Area: - Total |
Ranked 246th 98.64 km² |
| Admin. HQ: | Coventry |
| Grid reference: | SP333790 |
| ONS code: | 00CQ |
| Demographics | |
|
Population: - Total (2005 est.) - Density |
Ranked 16th 304,200 3,084 / km² |
| Ethnicity: |
78.0% White 11.3% S.Asian 7.8% Afro-Carib. |
| Politics | |
|
Coventry City Council http://www.coventry.gov.uk/ |
|
| Leadership: | Leader & Cabinet |
| Executive: | Conservative |
Coventry is a city and metropolitan borough, in the West Midlands region of England, UK.
Coventry is famous for its involvement in the British motor industry (see Coventry motor companies), its Cathedral and the legendary exploits of Lady Godiva. Coventry has two universities: Coventry University and the University of Warwick.
By the 14th century Coventry had become an important centre of the cloth trade, and throughout the Middle Ages was one of the largest and most important cities in England.
Hostile attitudes of the cityfolk towards Royalist prisoners held in Coventry during the English Civil War are believed to have originated the phrase "sent to Coventry", which in Britain means "to be ostracised".
In the late 19th century Coventry became a major centre of bicycle manufacture, with the industry being pioneered by Rover.
Coventry suffered severe bomb damage during World War II, most notoriously from a massive German air raid (the "Coventry Blitz") on 14 November 1940. This destroyed most of the historic city centre and Coventry's historic Cathedral. Aside from London and Plymouth, Coventry suffered more damage than any other British city during the Luftwaffe attacks, with huge firestorms devastating most of the city centre.
In the postwar years Coventry was largely rebuilt under the general direction of the Gibson Plan, gaining a new pedestrianised shopping precinct (the first of its kind in Europe) and the much-celebrated new St Michael's Cathedral in 1962 (incorporating the world's largest tapestry).
Places of interest
St. Michael's Cathedral is Coventry's best-known landmark and visitor attraction.
Another major visitor attraction in Coventry city centre is the free-to-enter Coventry Transport Museum, which has the largest collection of British-made road vehicles in the world. About 4 miles from the city centre and just outside Coventry in Baginton is the Lunt Fort, a reconstructed Roman fort.
The city's main Police Station in Little Park Street also hosts a museum of Coventry's Police Force.
Coventry City Football Club have also recently started playing at their new home, The Ricoh Arena, a 32,000 capacity stadium in the Foleshill area of the city. Coventry University situated on a modern city centre campus and the University of Warwick, which lies 5 km (3 miles) to the south of the city centre on the border with Warwickshire.
Many of the secondary schools in and around Coventry are specialist colleges, such as Finham Park School, which is a Mathematics and IT college and now a teacher training school and The Coventry Blue Coat Church of England School which has recently become a specialist college of Music, one of only a few in the country.
The Coventry School Foundation is comprised of independent schools King Henry VIII and Bablake together with Coventry Preparatory School. The Coventry Carol is named after the city of Coventry. During the late-1970s and early-1980s, Coventry was the centre of the Two Tone musical phenomenon, with bands such as The Specials and The Selecter coming from the city, spawning several major hit singles and albums. Today Coventry is recognised for its range of music events including one of the UK's foremost international jazz programmes, The Coventry Jazz Festival, and the award-winning Godiva Festival.
Venues
Theatre, art and music venues in Coventry include:
The Warwick Arts Centre: situated at the University of Warwick, Warwick Arts Centre comprises an art gallery, a theatre, a concert hall and a cinema. The Ricoh Arena : located 5.5 km (3.5 miles) north of the city centre, the 32,000 capacity Coventry City FC stadium is also used to hold major rock concerts for some of the world's biggest acts, including the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Bon Jovi.Sport
Sporting teams include Coventry City (Football), Coventry Rugby Club (Rugby Union), Coventry Blaze (Ice Hockey), Coventry Bears (Rugby League), Coventry Godiva Harriers (Athletics), Coventry Bees (Speedway), Coventry Crusaders (Basketball) and Coventry Cassidy Jets (American Football).
In football, Coventry City won the FA Cup on 16 May 1987 in what is considered to be one of the best finals in the competition's history.
Famous Coventrians
Arguably Coventry's most famous resident was Lady Godiva, who according to legend, rode through the city naked on horseback, in protest at high taxes being waged on the cityfolk by her husband Leofric, Earl of Mercia.
Two Tone ska bands The Specials and The Selecter are both from Coventry – one of The Specials' best known hits, Ghost Town is often thought to written about the city.
| Year | Regional Gross Value Added | Agriculture | Industry | Services |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | 3,407 | 3 | 1,530 | 1,874 |
| 2000 | 4,590 | 3 | 1,873 | 2,714 |
| 2003 | 5,103 | 2 | 1,529 | 3,572 |
Coventry has long been a centre of motor and cycle manufacturing, dating back from 1896, the car and cycle industry has been a strong centre point for this town. Starting out with some less familiar names such as Coventry Motette, Great Horseless Carriage Co, Swift and more familiar names like Humber, Riley and Daimler and the Triumph motorcycle having its origins in 1902 in a Coventry factory.
Transport
Coventry is near the M6, M69 and M40 motorways.
Bus services in Coventry are operated by Travel West Midlands (under the name Travel Coventry), Stagecoach and Mike de Courcey Travel.
The nearest major airports are Birmingham International Airport, some 17 km (11 miles) to the west of the city and Coventry Airport in Baginton, from which Thomsonfly operates commercial scheduled flights to more than 20 European destinations, located 8 km (5 miles) south of the city centre.
The Coventry Canal terminates near the city centre at Coventry Canal Basin and is navigable for 61 km (38 miles) to Fradley Junction in Staffordshire.
Waste management
Coventry has a large incineration plant which burns rubbish from both Coventry and Solihull and in the process produces electricity for the National Grid and some hot water that is used locally.
Coventry City Council is assisting recycling, in line with national trends:
many areas of Coventry have kerb-side paper and garden-green rubbish collection a wide range of rubbish materials can be taken by car to the recycling depot, which is adjacent to the incineration unit there are many recycling points throughout the City for paper, glass bottles and metal cans
Politics
Traditionally a part of Warwickshire (although it was a county in its own right for 400 years), Coventry became an independent county borough in 1889.
Coventry is administered by Coventry City Council.
In 2006 Coventry and Warwickshire Ambulance Service was merged with the West Midlands Ambulance Service. These are:
Bob Ainsworth - (Coventry North East) Jim Cunningham - (Coventry South) Geoffrey Robinson - (Coventry North West)At the Annual Meeting of the City Council on Thursday, 18 May 2006, Councillor Shabbir Ahmed and Mrs Rakizen-ul-Nisa were inaugurated as the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress of Coventry for 2006 / 2007.
Ken Taylor (Conservative) has served as Leader of Coventry City Council since 2004.
Closest cities, towns and villages
Cities
Birmingham (30 km / 19 miles) Leicester (38 km / 24 miles) Lichfield (48 km / 30 miles) Wolverhampton (59 km / 37 miles)Towns
Bedworth (10 km / 6 miles) Kenilworth (10 km / 6 miles) Nuneaton (13 km / 8 miles) Leamington Spa (16 km / 10 miles) Warwick (19 km / 12 miles) Rugby (19 km / 12 miles) Hinckley (19 km / 12 miles) Atherstone (20 km / 12.5 miles) Solihull (21 km / 13 miles) Southam (21 km / 13 miles) Tamworth (32 km / 20 miles)Villages
Baginton, about 4 miles south Neal's Green/Ash Green - about 4 miles north Burton Green, about 4 miles west Binley Woods, about 5 miles southeast Stoneleigh, 5 miles south Ryton-on-Dunsmore, about 5.5 miles southeast Hawkesbury, about 5.5 miles north Ansty, about 6 miles north east Corley, about 6 miles northwest Bulkington, about 6 miles northeast Brandon, about 6 miles southeast Shilton, about 7 miles northheast Berkswell, about 7 miles west Balsall Common, about 7 miles west Fillongley, about 7 miles north Wolston, about 7 miles southeast Brinklow, about 7 miles east Bubbenhall, about 7 miles southeast Meridon, about 8 miles west Bramcote, about 8 miles northeast Stretton-on-Dunsmore, about 10 miles southeast Wolvey, about 10 miles northeastCoventry is approximately latitudinal with the towns of Aberystwyth (west Wales), Kettering (Northamptonshire), Ely (Cambridgeshire) and Diss (Norfolk).
Postcodes
Postcodes covering the city of Coventry and its immediate suburbs are CV1 to CV6 inclusive.
Twin cities
Coventry was the first ever city to "twin" with another city and hence began the now common worldwide practice of twinning.
Coventry is now twinned with 26 places across the world:
| Flag | City | Country | Year Twinned | Ward |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Parkes, New South Wales | Australia | 1956 | ||
| Graz | Austria | 1957 | Binley & Willenhall | |
| Sarajevo | Bosnia Herzegovina | 1957 | ||
| Cornwall, Ontario | Canada | 1972 | ||
| Granby, Quebec | 1963 | |||
| Windsor, Ontario | 1963 | |||
| Jinan | China | 1983 | ||
| Lidice | Czech Republic | 1947 | ||
| Ostrava | 1959 | |||
| Caen | France | 1957 | ||
| Saint-Etienne | 1955 | |||
| Dresden | Germany | 1959 | Lower Stoke | |
| Kiel | 1947 | |||
| Dunaujvaros | Hungary | 1962 | ||
| Kecskemet | 1962 | |||
| Bologna | Italy | 1960 | ||
| Kingston | Jamaica | 1962 | ||
| Arnhem | Netherlands | 1958 | ||
| Warsaw | Poland | 1957 | ||
| Cork | Republic of Ireland | 1958 | ||
| Galaţi | Romania | 1962 | ||
| Volgograd | Russia | 1944 | ||
| Belgrade | Serbia | 1957 | ||
| Coventry, Connecticut | USA | 1962 | ||
| Coventry, New York | 1972 | |||
| Coventry, Rhode Island | 1971 |
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