Coventry

From the records: “The fort was probably constructed around AD 60 in connection with the Boudican revolt and then inhabited sporadically until around 280 AD.”

From the records: “In 2020, a portable ogham stone carved between the 4th and 6th centuries AD was unearthed in a Coventry garden.”

From the records: “AD 700 a Saxon nunnery was founded here by St Osburga, which was later left in ruins by King Canute's invading Danish army in 1016.”

From the records: “Leofric, Earl of Mercia and his wife Lady Godiva (a corruption of her given name, "Godgifu") rebuilt on the remains of the nunnery to found a Benedictine monastery in 1043 dedicated to St Mary for an abbot and 24 monks.”

From the records: “Coventry is well known for the mythical 11th century exploits of Lady Godiva who, according to legend, rode through the city naked on horseback in protest at high taxes being levied on the city folk by her husband Leofric, Earl of Mercia.”

From the records: “Bishop Robert de Limesey transferred his see to Coventry c. 1095, and in 1102 papal authorisation for this move also turned the monastery of St Mary into a priory and cathedral.”

From the records: “Coventry Castle was originally built towards the end of the 11th century by Ranulph le Meschin, 1st Earl of Chester, but was razed to the ground in the 12th century.”

From the records: “The abundant grazing land around the town, suited to sheep farming and wool production, enabled it to become a centre of many textile trades by the 13th century, especially those related to wool.”

From the records: “Coventry claimed the status of a city by ancient prescriptive usage, and was granted a charter of incorporation and coat of arms by King Edward III in 1345.”

From the records: “St Mary's Hall, a guildhall built and extended 1340–1460, served as the combined headquarters of the united guilds of the Holy Trinity, St Mary, St John the Baptist and St Katherine.”

From the records: “Reflecting its importance, in around 1355, work began on a defensive city wall, which, when finally finished around 175 years later in 1530, measured 2.25 miles (3.62 km) long, at least 12 feet (3.7 m) high, and up to 9 feet (2.7 m) thick, it had two towers and twelve gatehouses.”

From the records: “The Carthusian Priory of St Anne, known as Coventry Charterhouse, was built between 1381 and 1410 with royal patronage from King Richard II and his queen Anne of Bohemia.”

From the records: “On one notable occasion, King Richard II assembled all the nobility of the realm on Gosford Green in 1398 to witness the combat between Henry Bolingbroke, the Duke of Hereford (who later became King Henry IV) and Thomas de Mowbray, 1st Duke of Norfolk.”

From the records: “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.”

From the records: “In 1451 King Henry VI granted Coventry a charter making Coventry a county in itself; a status it retained until 1842 when it reverted to being a part of Warwickshire.”

From the records: “In 1404, King Henry IV summoned a parliament in Coventry as he needed money to fight rebellion, which wealthy cities such as Coventry lent to him.”

From the records: “In October 1498, Arthur, Prince of Wales, made a Royal Entry to Coventry, and was welcomed by actors presenting King Arthur and the Nine Worthies, Queen Fortune, and Saint George defending a maiden from a dragon.”

From the records: “In 1506 the draper Thomas Bond founded Bond's Hospital, an almshouse in Hill Street, to provide for 10 poor men and women.”

From the records: “When he visited Coventry c. 1540, the noted antiquarian John Leland was impressed by the "many fayre towers in the waulle" and "stately churches in the harte and midle of the towne" as well as its "many fayre stretes...well buyldyd with tymbar."”

From the records: “During the English Civil War Coventry became a bastion of the Parliamentarians: In August 1642, a Royalist force led by King Charles I attacked Coventry.”

From the records: “In 1662, after the restoration of the monarchy, in revenge for the support Coventry gave to the Parliamentarians during the Civil War, the city walls were demolished on the orders of King Charles II and now only a few short sections and two city gatehouses remain.”

From the records: “It is known that a silk weaving company was founded in Coventry in 1627, and at around the start of the 18th century, a ribbon weaving works was established by a Mr.”

From the records: “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.”

From the records: “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.”

From the records: “Coventry's pool of highly skilled workers attracted James Starley, who set up a company producing sewing machines in Coventry in 1861.”

From the records: “Further innovation came from Starley's nephew, John Kemp Starley, who developed the Rover safety bicycle, the first true modern bicycle with two equal-sized wheels and a chain drive in 1885.”

From the records: “The first British motor car was made in Coventry in 1897 by The Daimler Motor Company Limited, and a growing number of other small motor manufacturers began to appear.”

From the records: “The city continued to produce ribbons, woven labels and other small textile items, and 1904 heralded the opening of Courtaulds' first silk works at Foleshill in Coventry.”

From the records: “In June 1921, the War Memorial Park was opened on the former Styvechale Common to commemorate the 2587 soldiers from the city who lost their lives in the war.”

From the records: “Thanks to the growth of the car industry attracting workers, Coventry's population doubled between 1901 and 1911.”

From the records: “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.”

From the records: “In the post-war 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 on such a scale) and in 1962 Sir Basil Spence's much-celebrated new St Michael's Cathedral (incorporating one of the world's largest tapestries) was consecrated.”

From the records: “Coventry's large industrial base made it attractive to the wave of Asian and Caribbean immigrants who arrived from Commonwealth colonies after 1948.”

From the records: “The Belgrade Theatre was Britain's first purpose-built civic theatre, opened in 1958.”

From the records: “The new Coventry Cathedral was opened in 1962 next to the ruins of the old.”

From the records: “In 1965 the new University of Warwick campus was opened to students, and rapidly became one of the country's leading higher-education institutions.”

From the records: “In the 1969 film The Italian Job, the famous scene of Mini Coopers being driven at speed through Turin's sewers was actually filmed in Coventry, using what were then the country's biggest sewer pipes, that were accessible because they were being installed.”

From the records: “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.”

From the records: “On 7 December 2017 it was announced that the city would be the 2021 UK City of Culture, being the third such place to hold the title after Derry in 2013 and Hull in 2017.”