:00:12. > :00:20.The sky was absolutely red from horizon to horizon. I've never seen
:00:21. > :00:23.any thing like it at all. Provost Howard was in charge of the
:00:24. > :00:27.cathedral. He realised that it was too late, the roof was on fhre. He
:00:28. > :00:32.went around grabbing anything of value. The real mystery is, what
:00:33. > :00:37.happened to the remaining stained glass? Was stolen by somebody in the
:00:38. > :00:49.middle of the confusion of war? Nobody knows.
:00:50. > :00:56.All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God... Before hts
:00:57. > :01:04.destruction, Coventry Cathedral had two types of stained glass, medieval
:01:05. > :01:09.and Victorian. The medieval windows were high up above the nave and
:01:10. > :01:13.either side of the altar. They were removed before the Blitz and saved,
:01:14. > :01:16.but no one seems to know wh`t happened to the Victorian
:01:17. > :01:18.stained`glass that filled the rest of the cathedral. At least tntil
:01:19. > :01:36.now. As chief executive of the World
:01:37. > :01:39.Monuments Fund UK, Dr Jonathan Foyle has helped restore the medidval
:01:40. > :01:45.glass, but now he wants to solve the mystery of the missing Victorian
:01:46. > :01:50.windows. Every story I have heard about this class has been slightly
:01:51. > :01:53.different, people's recollections, Chinese whispers. One thing that I
:01:54. > :01:56.have heard that intrigues md is that it ended up abroad. Others have said
:01:57. > :02:02.it ended up going to an anthques dealer. Who would have taken it Did
:02:03. > :02:06.they steal it, buy it? I don't know the answer to many of these things
:02:07. > :02:12.and I want to get to the bottom of it. Why is he so keen to solve this
:02:13. > :02:19.mystery? Because so little of Victorian Coventry survives. Bombing
:02:20. > :02:23.reduced much of Victorian Coventry, largely because the targets, those
:02:24. > :02:26.19th century and 20th century factories, were the targets, so the
:02:27. > :02:33.historic core, the 15th century buildings survives much better than
:02:34. > :02:38.people tend to think. The Vhctorian stuff has become victim to war. To
:02:39. > :02:40.begin with, Jonathan is meeting someone who knows more about the
:02:41. > :02:49.cathedral's history than anxone else. Canon Wright! What a pleasure,
:02:50. > :02:54.great to meet you. Kenyon Wright spent 11 years as a minister at
:02:55. > :02:56.Coventry Cathedral. His theory is that the Victorian stained glass
:02:57. > :03:03.somehow made its way onto the black market. A stain on the history of a
:03:04. > :03:08.cathedral, that has got to be had. He shows Jonathan where is theory
:03:09. > :03:15.came from, an article in thd Coventry Evening Telegraph printed
:03:16. > :03:18.more than 30 years ago. In the first column, the Victorian glass was
:03:19. > :03:23.removed along with the medidval glass, confirmed by Jack Ashford,
:03:24. > :03:29.one of the men who took the glass out in 1939. Yes, they seem sure
:03:30. > :03:34.from the cathedral records that the medieval glass was taken. Wd don't
:03:35. > :03:42.know about the other, but hhs word is boldly as good as anybodx's.
:03:43. > :03:46.`` probably. The article st`tes that as Hitler scrambled his bombers the
:03:47. > :03:53.valuable medieval stained glass was removed, so too was some of the
:03:54. > :03:57.Victorian windows. The panels were carefully put into wooden crates and
:03:58. > :04:05.riven 17 miles out of the chty to the village of Hampton Lucy. ``
:04:06. > :04:08.driven. There they were kept in erect three stable is, safe from the
:04:09. > :04:16.loved father, but vulnerabld to thieves. `` in the rectory stables.
:04:17. > :04:21.And some of the Victorian p`nels went missing before turning up in
:04:22. > :04:25.London in an antiques shop. In the confusion of war, the whole of
:04:26. > :04:29.Europe was full of people confused as to where they were, what was
:04:30. > :04:33.happening, death everywhere. In the midst of that confusion, it may not
:04:34. > :04:40.be too surprising that somebody quietly purloined the glass and took
:04:41. > :04:45.it to London to sell. I suppose that is, in wartime, the kind of thing
:04:46. > :04:47.that happens. Crucially, thd article also revealed who bought thd glass
:04:48. > :05:21.and where once it ended up. It is from Coventry? Coventry, is
:05:22. > :05:28.it? One with glass from Covdntry, have you heard about that? Xes. Does
:05:29. > :05:33.everybody know that story? Jonathan has travelled over 1000 milds to the
:05:34. > :05:38.edge of the Arctic Circle. @kureyri is a frozen outpost in a snowy
:05:39. > :05:42.wilderness, and yet the talk of the town is a window from Warwickshire.
:05:43. > :05:47.It even gets a mention in the guidebooks. It is a long wax from
:05:48. > :05:51.home, about 20 degrees colddr, but Canon Wright showed me the `rticle
:05:52. > :05:55.that explains the glass had found its way via London 20 Iceland, so
:05:56. > :06:04.here I am in Akureyri to have a look at it. But Jonathan is notorious. He
:06:05. > :06:08.is here to ask one simple qtestion. Is it stolen? If it is, that is what
:06:09. > :06:13.the evidence is beginning to tell me, how am I going to deal with it?
:06:14. > :06:16.With the range of people who are involved? There are reputathons at
:06:17. > :06:26.stake, this is possibly the law at stake as well. If you start wading
:06:27. > :06:35.into unfamiliar waters... Pastor Jonsson, hello, Jonathan
:06:36. > :06:43.Svavar Jonsson is the church pastor. So which one? Here you can see it.
:06:44. > :06:51.It has the real Victorian, 09th century style, surrounded bx 20th
:06:52. > :06:55.century glass. The panel debates the presentation of the baby Jesus in
:06:56. > :06:58.the temple and its central position in the church suggests it h`s become
:06:59. > :07:04.a focal point for the entird community. The visual and thematic
:07:05. > :07:11.focus of the whole building now Yes, it is in the centre. Svavar
:07:12. > :07:15.Jonsson tells Jonathan that the window was indeed bought from an
:07:16. > :07:26.antique shop in London by two Icelandic traders during thd war.
:07:27. > :07:31.Helgi Zoega took antiques b`ck from London dodging icebergs and U`boats,
:07:32. > :07:37.and his twin brother Kristj`n sold the glass and its story to the
:07:38. > :07:40.church. The chairman of the committee heard it from this antique
:07:41. > :07:46.dealer in Reykjavik, who told him that this window was origin`lly in
:07:47. > :07:56.an English cathedral that w`s destroyed in the war, and it was in
:07:57. > :08:00.Coventry. In Akureyri, the glass is regarded as something of a liracle,
:08:01. > :08:03.and the story of how it emerged unscathed from the rubble of
:08:04. > :08:08.war`torn Coventry has been taught to generations of Sunday school
:08:09. > :08:13.children. Perhaps uprising, considering many suspect it was
:08:14. > :08:17.stolen. Well, a rumour exists that they were stolen from somewhere
:08:18. > :08:22.have you heard about? Yes, we heard that, because they have not
:08:23. > :08:26.explained the history of thd window from Coventry to London, and one of
:08:27. > :08:32.the explanations is that it has been stolen, and we have heard that, and
:08:33. > :08:38.that is what has always been clear to us that if they wish to get the
:08:39. > :08:44.window back, we would return it We would ask for permission to make a
:08:45. > :08:48.copy of it and then return ht. But Coventry Cathedral has never asked
:08:49. > :08:51.for it back. Instead, the glass has become a symbol of internathonal
:08:52. > :08:55.friendship. A delegation from Coventry came to Iceland to strike
:08:56. > :09:01.up a relationship between the two churches, and there is talk of an
:09:02. > :09:06.exchange trip. I heard rumotrs of a pilgrimage. Yes, we are planning a
:09:07. > :09:10.pilgrimage to Coventry. It hs interesting to see the glass in this
:09:11. > :09:16.context and here the broadbrush story of how it is supposed to have
:09:17. > :09:21.got here, but in the end, everything points back to the people who got it
:09:22. > :09:27.from London in the first pl`ce, and it is Helgi and Kristjan Zodga from
:09:28. > :09:33.Reykjavik, so that is the place to concentrate. So it is on to
:09:34. > :09:35.Iceland's capital, where Jonathan has heard there is more Covdntry
:09:36. > :09:48.glass. Lots more! Here we have the Apostles S`int
:09:49. > :09:54.Peter and Saint Paul, and hdre St Jude and Saint Thomas. Very
:09:55. > :10:01.different style, how intrigting Saint ball and Saint Peter `gain.
:10:02. > :10:07.Yes, we have one still here. At this church in Reykjavik, Sigurdtr
:10:08. > :10:12.Jonsson shows Jonathan panel at the panel of stained glass, all
:10:13. > :10:17.apparently from Coventry Cathedral. I was happy to see one panel in
:10:18. > :10:23.Akureyri, that was enough to justify the journey, but this is a whole
:10:24. > :10:28.gallery of Saints, it looks like Coventry Cathedral on holid`y here!
:10:29. > :10:34.Where did all this glass cole from? The Icelandic antiques dealdrs
:10:35. > :10:42.again, Kristjan and Helgi Zoega That is what I have heard and I have
:10:43. > :10:47.been told, that they boarded. They knew it came from Coventry.
:10:48. > :10:52.Dashboard it. But when Jonathan takes a closer look, somethhng isn't
:10:53. > :10:58.right. I am puzzled by this. The width is about right, this would
:10:59. > :11:02.match one of the apse windows in Coventry. But I do not think the
:11:03. > :11:08.shape is the same as Coventry's windows, so it is just making me
:11:09. > :11:13.begin to pause for thought, as to whether this is Coventry gl`ss.
:11:14. > :11:17.Could some of the panel not have come from Coventry after all? Every
:11:18. > :11:22.window in the ruins of the cathedral has an elaborate floral arch, and
:11:23. > :11:28.yet none of the panels Jonathan has seen in Iceland would appear to fit
:11:29. > :11:33.in such a window. This is what is called a Lancet, two simple curves,
:11:34. > :11:36.typical of the 13th century. But Coventry is late 14th century
:11:37. > :11:40.onwards, and by that time the windows were more complex, filled
:11:41. > :11:46.with costs, so the tops of the windows have to be more complex to
:11:47. > :11:51.fit within the shakes. `` ctsps It is possible that the glass could
:11:52. > :11:54.have been recovered to size, but Jonathan has his doubts and suspects
:11:55. > :11:58.the story of Coventry Cathedral s stained glass and its perilous
:11:59. > :12:04.wartime journey across the @tlantic may be knocking more than a
:12:05. > :12:09.70`year`old myth. `` nothing. I have to say, I smell a rat now, because I
:12:10. > :12:13.have seen no evidence at all that what was imported into Icel`nd 0
:12:14. > :12:18.years ago was from Coventry. Yeah, it is English stained glass, yes, a
:12:19. > :12:25.story exists, but I have to figure out what the story is based on. Is
:12:26. > :12:31.it Coventry, or is it balondy? So it is back to Coventry, where Jonathan
:12:32. > :12:36.begins his investigation. At this point, I need some hard information.
:12:37. > :12:40.If there is the right person to find the right information, it is going
:12:41. > :12:47.to be George in the archives. He was the city archaeologist for 20 years
:12:48. > :12:51.or so. The Martin city of Coventry... The
:12:52. > :12:58.martyred city, you understand where the language comes from, don't you?
:12:59. > :13:02.It is just the utter destruction. George has been studying thhs
:13:03. > :13:07.newsreel. The bombs rained down on Coventry for ten hours, killing more
:13:08. > :13:11.than 500 people and flattenhng 000 homes. But amongst the harrowing
:13:12. > :13:19.images there is an important clue for Jonathan's investigation. This
:13:20. > :13:23.is the view on the West door to the apse, where we are standing at this
:13:24. > :13:31.moment. You can see that although it is a distant shot, you can see how
:13:32. > :13:36.glass is hanging on, held up by some of the glazing bars. Yeah, they are
:13:37. > :13:41.still there today. There ard still tiny fragments hanging on. The
:13:42. > :13:45.newsreel clearly shows the stained glass was melted and mangled by the
:13:46. > :13:51.intense heat of the firebombs. Every appears smashed. What's that
:13:52. > :13:54.convinced me of is, whatever was still in the windows on the night of
:13:55. > :14:01.the bombing could not have survived, the intact panels, so if thdre was a
:14:02. > :14:08.Victorian glass, it has to have come out before the bombing. If ht stayed
:14:09. > :14:12.in, it is gone. So the only way the Victori`n glass
:14:13. > :14:17.could have got to Iceland is if it was removed before the Blitz and
:14:18. > :14:22.stored with the medieval gl`ss. To find out if that is what has
:14:23. > :14:25.happened, George has been examining some key documents. The first is a
:14:26. > :14:30.book written by the Cathedr`l's provost. He says, we decided that
:14:31. > :14:38.the beautiful 15th century stained glass in the apse should be taken
:14:39. > :14:49.out and stored. What is important is that this took several months and a
:14:50. > :14:54.few fragments were found. There is no mention at all of any Victorian
:14:55. > :14:58.glass, nor is it mentioned hn this handwritten note by the provost So
:14:59. > :15:03.what about George's final document, written by a member of the
:15:04. > :15:08.Restoration committee? Largd quantities of medieval stained glass
:15:09. > :15:13.have been taken from the windows and removed to a place of safetx. So he
:15:14. > :15:18.singles that out as well as being the important stuff to keep, so
:15:19. > :15:22.Nantes of these three writers mentioned the Victorian glass. ``
:15:23. > :15:26.Norn. It is clear that in these three different accounts of the
:15:27. > :15:32.removal of the glass, only the medieval glass from the apsd and the
:15:33. > :15:35.clear story is removed. There is no mention of any other glass,
:15:36. > :15:40.Victorian or otherwise, being taken out. So the documentary evidence
:15:41. > :15:44.suggests that because Victorian glass wasn't valued in the 0940s, it
:15:45. > :15:50.was simply left in place and lost to the flames.
:15:51. > :15:57.But with international reputations at stake, Jonathan can't afford to
:15:58. > :16:01.jump to conclusions. He's hoping Bob and Irene Chainey might remdmber
:16:02. > :16:04.what happened to the glass. They've worshipped at the cathedral for more
:16:05. > :16:13.than 80 years, even when it was full of rubble. So that's you thdre? Yes.
:16:14. > :16:19.Don't look much different. So, Bob, the night of the bombing in November
:16:20. > :16:24.1940, what was it like? I w`s going to take Irene to a dance. Wd were in
:16:25. > :16:31.the Home Guard. And we'd got a dance arranged for that night. Yot had a
:16:32. > :16:38.date lined up? Yes. But, on that night, the sky was absolutely red
:16:39. > :16:45.from horizon to horizon. I've never seen another night like it `t all.
:16:46. > :16:49.Irene, what do you remember about the stained glass in St Michael s?
:16:50. > :16:52.Well, when war broke out, Provost told us that they were going to
:16:53. > :17:06.remove all the medieval glass that was very valuable. And it w`s in the
:17:07. > :17:11.two side windows. Not in thd main three ones over the altar. @nd the
:17:12. > :17:19.whole lot of the medieval glass was sent, we were told, to Hampton Lucy.
:17:20. > :17:23.Right, OK. OK. But what abott the Victorian glass, what happened to
:17:24. > :17:28.that? It was still there. It was just left in place. Oh, yes. Yes.
:17:29. > :17:34.What she's saying as an eyewitness is the same thing that the
:17:35. > :17:37.documentary history is tellhng us. And to me, when you get the two
:17:38. > :17:41.things together, it locks. But Jonathan's after definitive proof.
:17:42. > :17:45.And believes it lies with r`re photos taken inside the cathedral
:17:46. > :17:48.before its destruction. Did the panels in Iceland come from these
:17:49. > :17:55.windows? Jonathan's come to Coventry University's Touch Digital Lab to
:17:56. > :18:00.find out. We see that the Presentation of Christ in the Temple
:18:01. > :18:04.is actually this scene here. Dr Jasmine Allen is the curator of the
:18:05. > :18:11.Stained Glass Museum in Ely and specialises in Victorian gl`ss.
:18:12. > :18:13.Thanks to this 1885 inventory of Coventry Cathedral, she's convinced
:18:14. > :18:19.the treasured glass in Akurdyri could only have come from one of two
:18:20. > :18:26.cathedral windows. And this is one of them. So when you put thdm side
:18:27. > :18:28.by side, they're totally different pictures, aren't they? Yes. Christ
:18:29. > :18:32.is facing a completely diffdrent way. The only other possibility is
:18:33. > :18:36.that the Akureyri panel camd from this window at the back of the
:18:37. > :18:39.cathedral. No photo of it strvives, but the inventory reveals who made
:18:40. > :18:44.it and the style of glass in Iceland doesn't seem to match. The figure
:18:45. > :18:48.modelling is all wrong. What I mean by that is the way the figures are
:18:49. > :18:56.painted you can see with a stipple brush on the head of Simeon here is
:18:57. > :18:59.quite heavily`modelled. The face looks quite naturalistic. That goes
:19:00. > :19:07.against a lot of kind of Hardman's principles. And I think that it s
:19:08. > :19:11.been made at the hands of ldss experienced artists. OK. So you re
:19:12. > :19:15.ruling this one out, as well? I am, I'm afraid. Jasmine's concltsion
:19:16. > :19:22.confirms what Jonathan feardd ` that the glass at the centre of the
:19:23. > :19:25.church in Akureyri is a fratd. In fact, Jasmine doesn't believe any of
:19:26. > :19:30.the glass in Iceland came from Coventry. Well, I think thex were
:19:31. > :19:34.certainly bought at a dealers in London. I don't think, however, they
:19:35. > :19:39.are from Coventry Cathedral. They were probably moved from many
:19:40. > :19:42.different church buildings. And I think the antique dealer probably
:19:43. > :19:48.used the words Coventry Cathedral to sell them quicker. To enhance the
:19:49. > :19:54.provenance? Yeah. Which has definitely worked. Pulled a fast
:19:55. > :20:03.one. Generations of worshippers it seems, have been fooled by one dodgy
:20:04. > :20:06.antiques dealer in London. Hf the documentary history, the visual
:20:07. > :20:12.comparisons, and a scholar `ll say it's wrong, I don't see how it can
:20:13. > :20:17.be right. But Jonathan must now break the news to the churches in
:20:18. > :20:22.Iceland and to Coventry Cathedral. It's an unenviable task. I lean
:20:23. > :20:26.some of the people from the cathedral have been on pilgrimage to
:20:27. > :20:30.Iceland, you know. And I want to make sure that I tell the Ddan the
:20:31. > :20:36.truth, but in the way that ht doesn't detract. And I don't know
:20:37. > :20:49.how exactly that's going to come across. Frankly, the glass doesn't
:20:50. > :20:51.fit Coventry in age or size. Jonathan tells Dean Witcombd
:20:52. > :20:59.everything he's discovered. So the fault doesn't lie with the people in
:21:00. > :21:04.Iceland or Coventry. What do you think about that? Well, I mdan, it's
:21:05. > :21:06.quite nice that there's not been any kind of deliberate deception
:21:07. > :21:10.anywhere. That's really nicd to know. And in a sense that hdlps us
:21:11. > :21:14.cement that partnership between us and the people in Iceland. We've
:21:15. > :21:20.kind of in a sense both been, if you like, duped a bit by the story. So,
:21:21. > :21:25.well there's a sense of sadness because in a sense you alwaxs want
:21:26. > :21:29.something to be true, don't you So there's a bit of a sense of that
:21:30. > :21:36.but, yeah, it means we can kind of greet each other well. And not have
:21:37. > :21:40.any animosity. It's in Akurdyri in Iceland, though, that the glass and
:21:41. > :21:45.the myth are most treasured. And it's here the news will be lost
:21:46. > :21:48.controversial. On the one h`nd, I feel a big weight of responsibility
:21:49. > :21:52.for taking apart a seven`decade old story which has really defined some
:21:53. > :21:58.of the significance of the way that some of the people of this city see
:21:59. > :22:01.themselves. And I don't say that lightly because they've built an
:22:02. > :22:05.entire relationship with thd city of Coventry on that basis. So ht's an
:22:06. > :22:12.important international fridndship that's been struck up. On the other
:22:13. > :22:19.hand, the truth will out. But nothing matches. OK. Nothing
:22:20. > :22:23.matches. And all the experts we ve talked to say the glass is not from
:22:24. > :22:29.Coventry after all. So, what do you think about that? What should I We
:22:30. > :22:34.always supposed it was from Coventry. Yes, it's surprisdd me but
:22:35. > :22:38.we will then update our text about this window but we will continue to
:22:39. > :22:50.cherish this window and it has always been a mystery around this
:22:51. > :22:56.window. How did it get to Iceland? It will be much more mysterhous now.
:22:57. > :23:00.I thought he took it with good grace, but it didn't feel good. I
:23:01. > :23:10.felt like the bearer of bad news. So, yeah, I think it was a bit
:23:11. > :23:22.tough. But, you know, he's ` decent man and he's very philosophhcal
:23:23. > :23:26.about it. It is always a little odd to... When
:23:27. > :23:29.you have thought something `nd it isn't right. But... A littld bit
:23:30. > :23:33.relieved, also. Because manx people said it was stolen from Covdntry.
:23:34. > :23:37.But now we know that isn't true It wasn't stolen from Coventry.
:23:38. > :23:40.And Jonathan suspects that that revelation will mean a great deal to
:23:41. > :23:43.someone else, someone who h`s for decades been plagued by the
:23:44. > :23:44.controversy surrounding the glass, the daughter of the Icelandhc
:23:45. > :23:56.antiques dealer, Kristjan Zoega Now, when we first approachdd her
:23:57. > :24:00.about this, she put the phone down and I don't know why. Cos this is 70
:24:01. > :24:03.years on. So obviously something rankles and I don't know whdther
:24:04. > :24:07.it's from family or whether it's publicity but she didn't want to
:24:08. > :24:12.talk about it. But then she agreed to come. So I'm hoping that she does
:24:13. > :24:19.because if there is an issud there, I'd love to talk it through with her
:24:20. > :24:27.and sort it out once and for all. They are twin brothers: Kristjan has
:24:28. > :24:31.come, along with her partner, Agust. And she's brought along a photo of
:24:32. > :24:34.her father and uncle, the Zoega brothers. They are 14 years old
:24:35. > :24:39.there. What do you understand about the story of the Coventry glass I
:24:40. > :24:44.heard it when I was a child. The glasses were from Coventry church.
:24:45. > :24:50.And your father told you th`t? Yes, I think so.
:24:51. > :24:53.But she explains that what tpsets her is the suggestion that her
:24:54. > :24:57.father sold stolen glass. A suggestion that has even appeared on
:24:58. > :25:02.Icelandic television. I didn't like that. It was very
:25:03. > :25:09.upsetting because they were assuming that these were stolen things. Yes.
:25:10. > :25:18.But I think always when these things were mentioned, it irritated me
:25:19. > :25:22.Irritated you? Yes, irritatdd me. He was a very kind and very nice man.
:25:23. > :25:27.Jonathan's findings rule out any suggestion that her father sold
:25:28. > :25:29.glass stolen from Coventry. And, after decades of
:25:30. > :25:35.unsubstantiated whispers, it's time for her to hear the truth.
:25:36. > :25:41.The Victorian glass was all lost and therefore the glass in Reykjavik and
:25:42. > :25:44.Akureyri is not from Coventry. But your father's brother bought it
:25:45. > :25:48.in London from someone who said "Oh, it's from Coventry Cathedral,"
:25:49. > :25:59.and that is where the fault lies ` in the man who sold it saying it was
:26:00. > :26:03.from Coventry. Because we can show that it wasn't.
:26:04. > :26:07.So his story is at fault. And nothing to do with your father or
:26:08. > :26:22.your uncle or your family. OK, I'm glad to hear it. What does that mean
:26:23. > :26:26.to you? It means a lot to md, yes. Yes, it means a lot. Thank xou very
:26:27. > :26:32.much. That really pleased me, acttally.
:26:33. > :26:38.This has brought me to... This little journey has done somdthing I
:26:39. > :26:40.didn't anticipate that it would And I think her mind is really `t rest
:26:41. > :26:50.now. But Jonathan's investigation isn't
:26:51. > :27:02.quite at an end. Back in Coventry, Dean Witcombe has asked him to look
:27:03. > :27:06.at something else. Yes, I love this chapel. It's just amazing. @mazing
:27:07. > :27:10.space. For decades, everyond thought the Victorian glass had either been
:27:11. > :27:12.stolen or was over in Iceland. But Jonathan's investigation has
:27:13. > :27:16.left only one conclusion: That the glass lay amongst the rubbld of the
:27:17. > :27:24.Blitz. What few people know is that the rubble was kept.
:27:25. > :27:29.Well, it's a storeroom of stonework, so why did you bring me down here?
:27:30. > :27:33.It's because through this whndow here you can see the stones that
:27:34. > :27:36.fill at least one and probably more of the other crypts. And wh`t
:27:37. > :27:40.happened, after the bombing, the whole of the space above us in the
:27:41. > :27:44.old cathedral was full of all the debris from that bombing and it was
:27:45. > :27:47.all shovelled into the crypts and of course it wasn't just stones, it was
:27:48. > :27:50.glass. That glass was simply discarded by a
:27:51. > :27:55.generation that didn't valud Victorian art.
:27:56. > :27:58.But now, 70 years on, with so little of Victorian Coventry left, even
:27:59. > :28:03.tiny fragments would be a rdmarkable find.
:28:04. > :28:07.The truth is that Coventry's story is bound up on the night in 194 ,
:28:08. > :28:13.and that's when all the glass was lost. And it's still here all along.
:28:14. > :28:17.And one day, someone in my position is going to have the great luck to
:28:18. > :28:23.be able to open up that crypt, sift through and reveal another story in
:28:24. > :28:27.turn and that is: What's left of Coventry's Victorian glass?