0:00:02 > 0:00:05I'm hanging 120 feet over the ruins of old Coventry Cathedral
0:00:05 > 0:00:07and enjoying the view of its replacement,
0:00:07 > 0:00:13a building which stood for a post-war age of optimism and architectural invention.
0:00:13 > 0:00:15This is Climbing Great Buildings,
0:00:15 > 0:00:19and throughout this series, I'll be scaling our most iconic and best-loved structures,
0:00:19 > 0:00:21from the Normans to the present day.
0:00:21 > 0:00:23Wahey!
0:00:23 > 0:00:25I'll be revealing the building's secrets and telling the story
0:00:25 > 0:00:28of how British architecture and construction
0:00:28 > 0:00:31developed over 1,000 years.
0:00:43 > 0:00:47The next step in my journey through the evolution of British architecture
0:00:47 > 0:00:48brings me to Coventry.
0:00:48 > 0:00:53The new cathedral designed by Sir Basil Spence and built from 1955,
0:00:53 > 0:00:57sits alongside the bombed ruins of the original medieval church.
0:00:57 > 0:01:01The new cathedral became a symbol of a nation rising from the rubble and ashes
0:01:01 > 0:01:05after the hellish devastation of the Second World War.
0:01:06 > 0:01:09I've been given unprecedented access to reveal the secrets
0:01:09 > 0:01:12behind Coventry Cathedral's construction.
0:01:12 > 0:01:14I'll zip from the old bell tower
0:01:14 > 0:01:17to tell the story of the cathedral's resurrection
0:01:17 > 0:01:21and reveal why the bombed building was neither rebuilt nor bulldozed
0:01:21 > 0:01:22to make way for a replacement.
0:01:22 > 0:01:25LUCY: I think it's great that they left it here, actually.
0:01:25 > 0:01:27I'll scale a tapestry the size of a tennis court
0:01:27 > 0:01:31to come face to face with the most incredible rendition of Christ,
0:01:31 > 0:01:34crafted from over a thousand different shades of wool.
0:01:34 > 0:01:35Looms in every sense, I think.
0:01:35 > 0:01:36LUCY LAUGHS
0:01:36 > 0:01:39And along the way, I'll find out how a trip to the dentist
0:01:39 > 0:01:43inspired the design of this modern masterpiece.
0:01:43 > 0:01:47As ever, top British climber Lucy Creamer and a team of riggers,
0:01:47 > 0:01:52along with intrepid cameraman Ian Burton will be joining me on my vertical adventure.
0:01:55 > 0:01:57Coventry Cathedral is, in fact, two cathedrals.
0:01:57 > 0:01:59There's the new cathedral over there,
0:01:59 > 0:02:03but this is all that remains of the old cathedral, St Michael's,
0:02:03 > 0:02:07a parish church built into the first quarter of the 15th century
0:02:07 > 0:02:10one of the masterpieces of late medieval architecture in Britain.
0:02:10 > 0:02:14It was elevated to cathedral status in 1918,
0:02:14 > 0:02:19just 22 years before one fateful night changed the face of the city.
0:02:21 > 0:02:23AIR RAID SIREN
0:02:23 > 0:02:25On the 14th November 1940,
0:02:25 > 0:02:2940,000 incendiary bombs rained down on Coventry
0:02:29 > 0:02:31killing over 600 people.
0:02:31 > 0:02:35This beautiful medieval city was engulfed in a raging fire storm
0:02:35 > 0:02:38that left barely a building untouched.
0:02:38 > 0:02:40Over a third of the city was destroyed
0:02:40 > 0:02:43but when the shell-shocked people of Coventry emerged the next morning,
0:02:43 > 0:02:46they heard the bells of the cathedral ringing.
0:02:46 > 0:02:48Jubilation quickly turned to despair
0:02:48 > 0:02:52when they realised the main body of the cathedral had been reduced to rubble.
0:02:52 > 0:02:56All that remained was the nave walls and its beautiful bell tower.
0:02:58 > 0:03:02The decision to build a new cathedral was led by Provost Howard the very next morning.
0:03:02 > 0:03:05Now this wasn't to be an act of defiance or revenge,
0:03:05 > 0:03:09but rather peace and reconciliation, and hope for the future.
0:03:10 > 0:03:15Nothing symbolised that message of hope more than a visit from a young Queen Elizabeth.
0:03:15 > 0:03:18The fresh face of a nation still struggling to emerge
0:03:18 > 0:03:20from the destruction and grief of war.
0:03:20 > 0:03:23TV NARRATOR: 'Coventry. Paying her first visit to the city since her coronation,
0:03:23 > 0:03:26'to lay the foundation stone of the new cathedral,
0:03:26 > 0:03:28'the Queen, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh,
0:03:28 > 0:03:33'saw the Cross of Nails which was recovered from the charred timbers of the old building.'
0:03:33 > 0:03:34The rebuilding of the cathedral
0:03:34 > 0:03:38was a statement to the world that for all the horror and pain that Britain had endured,
0:03:38 > 0:03:40a new, confident country was emerging,
0:03:40 > 0:03:43braver, stronger and more resolute than ever.
0:03:43 > 0:03:48The finest craftsmen of the age would use their skills, not only to create a monument of hope,
0:03:48 > 0:03:51but also to reflect the virtues of a new Britain.
0:03:51 > 0:03:55They would be bold, daring and unbeholden to the past.
0:03:56 > 0:04:02In order to view the old cathedral, I'm going to zip line 180 feet down from its steeple.
0:04:02 > 0:04:06Normally, I'd be admiring the cathedral's wonderful arcades and timber roofs,
0:04:06 > 0:04:09but, sadly, all that remains is a shell.
0:04:09 > 0:04:12But from this vantage point, I can get a real sense of what the city would have looked like
0:04:12 > 0:04:16before that fateful night in 1940.
0:04:16 > 0:04:20We're on a site of a gem of a medieval city. Look down there. See that timber frame courtyard?
0:04:20 > 0:04:24- LUCY: Yeah.- It's one of the relics of the medieval city.
0:04:24 > 0:04:28It was packed with narrow lanes, half-timbered houses.
0:04:28 > 0:04:32- If Coventry were today what is was like in 1939...- Yeah.
0:04:32 > 0:04:37- ..it would be one of the chief tourist attractions in the whole of Britain.- Really?
0:04:37 > 0:04:40It would be a jewel in Britain.
0:04:40 > 0:04:41SHE TUTS
0:04:41 > 0:04:42It's tragic, isn't it?
0:04:42 > 0:04:45Completely tragic.
0:04:45 > 0:04:49Built over the course of more than 100 years in the 14th and 15th centuries,
0:04:49 > 0:04:54St Michael's was a fine example of late Gothic church architecture.
0:04:54 > 0:04:56LUCY LAUGHS
0:04:56 > 0:04:58LUCY: Let's do this thing.
0:04:59 > 0:05:02BOTH LAUGH
0:05:02 > 0:05:05- Glorious. - It's quite genteel, isn't it?- Now...
0:05:05 > 0:05:08When the decision was made to rebuild the cathedral,
0:05:08 > 0:05:12the church authorities were adamant that the iconic bell tower must remain standing.
0:05:12 > 0:05:14- Wow.- Now, let's take stock.
0:05:14 > 0:05:17That is a majestic tower. You don't see it, do you, when you're...
0:05:17 > 0:05:19This is beautiful.
0:05:19 > 0:05:24- ..when you're on the top of the thing...- No.- ..you can't see the wood for the trees, so to speak.
0:05:24 > 0:05:25LUCY LAUGHS
0:05:25 > 0:05:27Can't see the stone for the spire.
0:05:27 > 0:05:29Do you know, there's not much that's left in Coventry,
0:05:29 > 0:05:33but just to look down there and get a sense of what surrounded this church,
0:05:33 > 0:05:37and why all these densely-packed buildings were so ready to go up in flames.
0:05:37 > 0:05:41- Yeah.- The intensity of the heat must have been appalling.
0:05:41 > 0:05:44But one of the things that brought the church down
0:05:44 > 0:05:46was in the 1890s, I think it was,
0:05:46 > 0:05:49- there were some steel repairs to the timber beams...- Right.
0:05:49 > 0:05:53..and when you heat steel, of course, it twists and bends.
0:05:53 > 0:05:56- Oh yeah.- And it's that that pulled the walls in and made it collapse.
0:05:56 > 0:06:02- So, ironically, the strengthening ended up being the weakening factor. - Being its downfall.- Yeah.
0:06:04 > 0:06:08The cathedral at Coventry was the only one in England to be destroyed during the war,
0:06:08 > 0:06:11and it forced the church authorities into a difficult decision.
0:06:11 > 0:06:16Did they simply rebuild the old cathedral in all its medieval glory,
0:06:16 > 0:06:19or should they leave the ruins alone to stand as a memorial to those who had died,
0:06:19 > 0:06:24and as a poignant reminder of the pain and destruction caused by war?
0:06:24 > 0:06:26I think it's great that they left it here, actually.
0:06:26 > 0:06:29Yeah, I think if it had been rebuilt, if these walls had been strengthened,
0:06:29 > 0:06:32the glass had been put back in, a roof had been put back on.
0:06:32 > 0:06:34It's one way of doing it, of course, after the war.
0:06:34 > 0:06:38But you lose the history, don't you, that the building's gone through?
0:06:38 > 0:06:42Yeah, and I guess you could argue it's a sense of denial that it happened in the first place.
0:06:42 > 0:06:45- Whereas, this seems to accept what happened as fact.- Mm.
0:06:45 > 0:06:50And the new cathedral is built to say something,
0:06:50 > 0:06:53to give you the next chapter in the story of Coventry.
0:06:53 > 0:06:55- Yeah.- Quite powerful that way, I think.
0:06:56 > 0:07:02At first, the church authorities decided to build a new Gothic cathedral adjacent to the ruins,
0:07:02 > 0:07:05but this idea drew critics, including the then bishop of Coventry.
0:07:05 > 0:07:07So rather than force it through,
0:07:07 > 0:07:11they held a competition that was open to any architect.
0:07:11 > 0:07:14How many competition submissions were there?
0:07:14 > 0:07:18There was something like 219 submissions
0:07:18 > 0:07:20that came from all over the world.
0:07:20 > 0:07:23The favoured approach, generally, from the competition
0:07:23 > 0:07:27was to build a new cathedral parallel to the existing ruins.
0:07:27 > 0:07:29- OK.- So... - Show me some of the entries.
0:07:29 > 0:07:32There was an entry by Peter & Alison Smithson,
0:07:32 > 0:07:34who were very well-known architects at the time,
0:07:34 > 0:07:36who proposed a very contemporary solution,
0:07:36 > 0:07:40which was a building totally within the ruins
0:07:40 > 0:07:43and incorporating the tower, with a sweeping roof.
0:07:43 > 0:07:46- That's quite dynamic.- It is. - Almost like an airport design.
0:07:46 > 0:07:50- It's got that...- It is. It is. - ..sense of flight about it.
0:07:50 > 0:07:53It was very well received by the architectural press at the time,
0:07:53 > 0:07:56and some thought it should have won.
0:07:56 > 0:07:59- Some of these designs struck me as a bit eccentric.- They are.
0:07:59 > 0:08:01There was one that was totally underground,
0:08:01 > 0:08:06where the architect was worried about a nuclear attack and protecting the cathedral.
0:08:06 > 0:08:08- That one?- Which is exactly that. Yes.
0:08:08 > 0:08:11Gosh. Underground bunker of a cathedral.
0:08:11 > 0:08:14- It's cathedral as bomb shelter, it's not really a symbol of hope. - No, it's not.
0:08:14 > 0:08:15MICHAEL LAUGHS
0:08:15 > 0:08:18Nestled within the weird and wonderful submissions
0:08:18 > 0:08:23was a brilliantly modern design from little-known Scottish architect, Basil Spence.
0:08:23 > 0:08:26What was distinctive then about Spence's design?
0:08:26 > 0:08:30Spence was the only one of the competition entries
0:08:30 > 0:08:33that kept the ruins as their entirety,
0:08:33 > 0:08:36and linked it to a new building.
0:08:36 > 0:08:41The others removed a wall, the south wall or the north wall and added the cathedral,
0:08:41 > 0:08:43still maintaining the space,
0:08:43 > 0:08:47but all of theirs linked in one way or another to the ruins as they stood,
0:08:47 > 0:08:51which meant an alteration to the ruins.
0:08:51 > 0:08:54So that was the major difference.
0:08:55 > 0:08:58After receiving praise for the spirit and imagination of his design,
0:08:58 > 0:09:00Spence was chosen as the winner,
0:09:00 > 0:09:04and for him, it was a realisation of a long-held dream.
0:09:04 > 0:09:07Several years earlier, whilst fighting on the beaches of Normandy,
0:09:07 > 0:09:10a fellow soldier asked him what his ambition was.
0:09:10 > 0:09:13Spence replied simply, "To build a cathedral."
0:09:13 > 0:09:17The cathedral ruins are extremely important to the people of Coventry
0:09:17 > 0:09:20who held regular open-air services here.
0:09:20 > 0:09:24So Spence's decision to keep them in their entirety was hugely popular.
0:09:24 > 0:09:27He believed the new cathedral should grow out of the old
0:09:27 > 0:09:31and the ruins would remain as a symbol of remembrance for the fate of the city.
0:09:31 > 0:09:33If the ruins offered remembrance,
0:09:33 > 0:09:37then Spence was determined that his new cathedral would represent hope.
0:09:37 > 0:09:41And past and future are literally linked by a connecting wall
0:09:41 > 0:09:44between old St Michael's and the porch of the new cathedral,
0:09:44 > 0:09:46the setting for my next climb.
0:09:46 > 0:09:48I'm going to scale 70 feet
0:09:48 > 0:09:51to see how Spence managed to reconcile two buildings
0:09:51 > 0:09:53built 500 years apart.
0:09:53 > 0:09:56I think a lot of school kids get brought to Coventry.
0:09:56 > 0:09:59- I was brought here when I was... - Yeah, I was too.- ..but a teenager.
0:09:59 > 0:10:01I think I was about 11 or 12. You came as well?
0:10:01 > 0:10:04Yeah, I was. First year of school. Secondary school, yeah.
0:10:04 > 0:10:05SHE LAUGHS
0:10:05 > 0:10:08All right. Let's get jamming.
0:10:08 > 0:10:12The west entrance is dominated by the immense plate-glass window,
0:10:12 > 0:10:17but, as we climb, Lucy notices another of the cathedral's most striking features.
0:10:17 > 0:10:20So what do you think of this canopy, then, Dr Foyle?
0:10:20 > 0:10:22Well, I think it's a clever idea,
0:10:22 > 0:10:26because you've got the roofless ruins of the old cathedral,
0:10:26 > 0:10:29and then you've got the fully vaulted and roofed new cathedral,
0:10:29 > 0:10:31- quite dark and enclosed.- Yeah.
0:10:31 > 0:10:33- So I guess this is a transition between them.- Hm.
0:10:33 > 0:10:37It's a clever bridge, I think, between the two things.
0:10:37 > 0:10:40- I'm not sure I like it, actually. - You don't?- No.
0:10:40 > 0:10:43I don't know, I just feel it almost overshadows the old cathedral.
0:10:43 > 0:10:48Yeah. Whether that sort of slightly cranky, typically '50s, '60s form,
0:10:48 > 0:10:51- might look equally at home in a bus shelter or a cathedral.- Yeah.
0:10:51 > 0:10:55That might be what's sort of taking it away for me a little bit.
0:10:55 > 0:10:56SHE LAUGHS
0:10:56 > 0:11:00I like the idea, but the effect, five out of ten. SHE LAUGHS
0:11:00 > 0:11:02Do you know, I can see you turning to architecture after this.
0:11:02 > 0:11:04You'll have to retrain, it'll take you seven years.
0:11:04 > 0:11:07Yeah, I'll just take seven years out of my life.
0:11:07 > 0:11:08BOTH LAUGH
0:11:10 > 0:11:11One of Spence's chief concerns
0:11:11 > 0:11:15was to ensure a sense of continuity between the two cathedrals.
0:11:15 > 0:11:19One of the ways he achieved this, was through his choice of building material.
0:11:19 > 0:11:23Climbing up to this level, you feel you're in a canyon of this pink stone.
0:11:23 > 0:11:27It's quite remarkable how the old cathedral meshes with the new one
0:11:27 > 0:11:29just by virtue of this material.
0:11:29 > 0:11:31And it's a deliberate choice by Spence.
0:11:31 > 0:11:35He was fed up, in the '50s, of what he called, "glass boxes" and "cubes",
0:11:35 > 0:11:40quite the fashion then, not entirely disappeared today.
0:11:40 > 0:11:44And his fellow architects were a bit dismissive of his choice of Hollington, the local stone,
0:11:44 > 0:11:49which provided the original stone for much of Coventry's medieval buildings.
0:11:49 > 0:11:52It really harmonises well.
0:11:54 > 0:11:57Well, you can see some of the glass boxes
0:11:57 > 0:11:59that Spence talked about in the '50s.
0:11:59 > 0:12:04- Yeah.- The kind of fairly cheap solution to rebuilding a city
0:12:04 > 0:12:06when, frankly, the country was, more or less, bankrupt.
0:12:06 > 0:12:10- But hey, he can't have totally hated glass, look at that, there's about four acres of it.- Yeah.
0:12:10 > 0:12:13BOTH LAUGH
0:12:13 > 0:12:17The defining feature of this entrance has to be the huge expanse of engraved plate glass,
0:12:17 > 0:12:20known as the West Screen.
0:12:20 > 0:12:23It's a beautiful re-imagining of a traditional cathedral entrance,
0:12:23 > 0:12:25with religious figures and saints high up,
0:12:25 > 0:12:27looking down on the worshippers
0:12:27 > 0:12:30as they enter the cathedral to give thanks to God.
0:12:30 > 0:12:32Should we zip across? Is that the word?
0:12:32 > 0:12:35Well, this is a Tyrolean, technically it's called a Tyrolean.
0:12:35 > 0:12:38- So shall we...- Traverse? - ..shall we "Tyrol" across?
0:12:38 > 0:12:41- Should we do a little "Tyrol"? - Let's get "Tyrolised", shall we?
0:12:41 > 0:12:42LUCY LAUGHS
0:12:42 > 0:12:47Spence initially approached world-renowned glass sculptor John Hutton in 1952,
0:12:47 > 0:12:50but it took nine years until the windows were fully realised.
0:12:50 > 0:12:55Hutton spent the intervening time experimenting and inventing new methods for glass engraving,
0:12:55 > 0:12:59which resulted in these incredibly beautiful, translucent figures.
0:12:59 > 0:13:04And they're so big, as well. They must be about eight-foot high, or something.
0:13:04 > 0:13:06- Something like that. They're superhuman in scale.- Yeah.
0:13:06 > 0:13:11But they're so busy, the way in which these great trumpets are being blown,
0:13:11 > 0:13:15and these characters spiralling through space.
0:13:15 > 0:13:16There are 66 figures, in all.
0:13:16 > 0:13:18Wow.
0:13:18 > 0:13:20And you've got the Virgin, look, in the middle,
0:13:20 > 0:13:24and there's Christ, and so there's saints and angels swirling around,
0:13:24 > 0:13:25a real celestial vision.
0:13:25 > 0:13:31We've also got an amazing view, a reflection, of the old one, as well.
0:13:31 > 0:13:32- Now that's clever.- It's lovely.
0:13:32 > 0:13:35- It acts like a kind of mirror.- Mm.
0:13:35 > 0:13:39- You never get away from the idea of this ruin and resurrection.- Mm. - It's clever, that.
0:13:39 > 0:13:41So, Lu, what do you think of them?
0:13:41 > 0:13:43I actually quite like it.
0:13:43 > 0:13:47I can appreciate the artistry, that's for sure.
0:13:47 > 0:13:51I don't think I would have done when I came here as an 11-year-old, but I like it.
0:13:51 > 0:13:53I think there's something convincing about
0:13:53 > 0:13:59trying not to make angels and so on look too human, cos you only...
0:13:59 > 0:14:03You just end up thinking, "Well, how do the wings fix to your back?"
0:14:03 > 0:14:07So to turn them into these dynamic lines, I think, is-is...
0:14:07 > 0:14:09Cos it's all about energy and emotional power, after all.
0:14:09 > 0:14:13- It is, yeah.- I think it's totally appropriate. I like them too.
0:14:13 > 0:14:15- Should we head down?- Yeah.
0:14:22 > 0:14:25Yeah, I like it.
0:14:30 > 0:14:34Upon entering the cathedral, it may appear like a huge well-proportioned aircraft hangar,
0:14:34 > 0:14:38a vast, empty room with plain concrete walls, a functional space.
0:14:38 > 0:14:43But the more you look around, the more the traditional elements begin to reveal themselves.
0:14:44 > 0:14:48Inside the cathedral you see the basic elements of a great English church.
0:14:48 > 0:14:54A big nave, its long, central vessels separated from its aisles by tall columns
0:14:54 > 0:14:56reaching up to a vault.
0:14:56 > 0:15:00And it's a long view too, in the way that medieval churches were long,
0:15:00 > 0:15:05focused on the altar, housed in its separate space called the chancel.
0:15:05 > 0:15:08So it is, more or less, a traditional design.
0:15:11 > 0:15:14On the other hand, it contains some unusual features.
0:15:14 > 0:15:19To walk into a medieval cathedral you'd expect to see rows of stained-glass windows.
0:15:19 > 0:15:22In fact, here, you just see solid panels of wall,
0:15:22 > 0:15:27and then medieval columns rose on big bases, right up to the roof...
0:15:27 > 0:15:32Well, here...they're not on bases, at all, a little bit of bronze.
0:15:32 > 0:15:35They seem to be upside down, as they taper outwards, as they grow.
0:15:35 > 0:15:39And they support unusually slender-looking rib vaults.
0:15:39 > 0:15:41These are made from concrete,
0:15:41 > 0:15:45and somehow span in a very airy and delicate way, with wood between.
0:15:45 > 0:15:49Now, all this novelty meant the traditionalists were outraged,
0:15:49 > 0:15:54but Spence argued that true tradition lay in responding to the opportunities of your own age,
0:15:54 > 0:15:57much as the builders of Durham or Lincoln had done
0:15:57 > 0:16:01in making THEIR contribution to architectural evolution.
0:16:01 > 0:16:05That's what he saw as true authenticity.
0:16:09 > 0:16:10Even the traditional stained-glass window
0:16:10 > 0:16:15was given a thoroughly contemporary reworking by Basil Spence.
0:16:15 > 0:16:18For my next climb, I'm going to scale this 80-foot high window
0:16:18 > 0:16:22to explore the detail it's impossible to appreciate from the ground.
0:16:22 > 0:16:24This area's called the Baptistery.
0:16:24 > 0:16:27Yeah, I was wondering what this piece of rock was.
0:16:27 > 0:16:28SHE LAUGHS
0:16:28 > 0:16:32Yeah, it's a font. From a chunk of rock from Bethlehem.
0:16:32 > 0:16:36- Oh, wow.- And it was brought by people of different kinds of faiths,
0:16:36 > 0:16:40you know, free, they provided transport across Europe for it.
0:16:40 > 0:16:43- Wow.- And so, to bring a bit of rock from the Holy Land.
0:16:43 > 0:16:45- That's amazing.- It's marvellously primitive too.
0:16:45 > 0:16:49- I like it.- It's not sculpted into any particular image or symbol,
0:16:49 > 0:16:51apart from a scallop shell on the top.
0:16:51 > 0:16:54It hasn't been sort of finished off too precisely.
0:16:54 > 0:16:55You're a fan of it, then?
0:16:55 > 0:16:59I am, I have to admit, I do like lumps of rock.
0:16:59 > 0:17:00BOTH LAUGH
0:17:06 > 0:17:08Taking four years to complete,
0:17:08 > 0:17:12the Baptistery Window contains 198 individual hand-painted glass panels.
0:17:12 > 0:17:15These panels are abstract in design.
0:17:15 > 0:17:19They don't portray any immediately recognisable figures or scenes.
0:17:19 > 0:17:23Spence was more concerned with creating a mood than biblical storytelling,
0:17:23 > 0:17:25and these panes shine down on the nave floor,
0:17:25 > 0:17:29creating an astounding pattern of glowing colour.
0:17:30 > 0:17:33In keeping with the cathedral's message of hope and resurrection,
0:17:33 > 0:17:38the overriding motif, is of the Sun glowing benevolently upon those being baptised.
0:17:38 > 0:17:42The big impression for me, at this height,
0:17:42 > 0:17:46is that every one of these panels is its own work of art.
0:17:46 > 0:17:52- Yeah. Completely individual.- Yeah. Cos from a distance it becomes part of a big colour scheme.
0:17:52 > 0:17:56- Yeah.- You've got the red, the earthy colours.- Mm.
0:17:56 > 0:18:01Reds and browns and blues and greens, it looks like fire and elements and things.
0:18:01 > 0:18:06- And then, there's that extraordinary Sun-like yellow-white in the middle. - Yeah.
0:18:06 > 0:18:09And then, blue, celestial blue above.
0:18:09 > 0:18:12- It's beautiful.- I like the fact that there's no right or wrong.
0:18:12 > 0:18:16There's no squinting to see the name of a saint on a little label underneath them.
0:18:16 > 0:18:17BOTH LAUGH
0:18:17 > 0:18:20- You could look at it for hours, couldn't you?- Couldn't you?
0:18:22 > 0:18:28The beautiful, intricate glasswork is the creation of John Piper and Patrick Reyntiens,
0:18:28 > 0:18:30but the surrounding stonework is Spence's own creation
0:18:30 > 0:18:36and he made a conscious decision to offset the glass with a very simple, almost industrial framework.
0:18:37 > 0:18:40Spence said that medieval builders
0:18:40 > 0:18:45- created their windows with hand and chisel and hammer.- Mm.- The stuff that was available to them.
0:18:45 > 0:18:48And so the finely carved mouldings are a result of their technology.
0:18:48 > 0:18:53Now, in the 20th Century, you know, he's got great stone saws and so on,
0:18:53 > 0:18:56it's all industrial, machine-made stuff.
0:18:56 > 0:18:59- So he's respecting the age in which he's creating this.- Yeah.
0:18:59 > 0:19:04And I rather like the fact that it is mechanistic and precise in the outline,
0:19:04 > 0:19:06and all of the attention is given onto this stained glass.
0:19:06 > 0:19:08- It's got such soul and atmosphere. - Yeah.
0:19:08 > 0:19:11I like the contrast between the two things.
0:19:18 > 0:19:23From this unique position, 70 feet up, I realise that the blues at the top of the window,
0:19:23 > 0:19:25which I'd always assumed represented the sky,
0:19:25 > 0:19:27could have a completely different meaning.
0:19:28 > 0:19:32- HE LAUGHS:- I'm enjoying those purples and blues.
0:19:32 > 0:19:33SHE LAUGHS
0:19:33 > 0:19:37- It's like a big bath, isn't it? - It's beautiful.
0:19:37 > 0:19:38And so there's the scallop shell.
0:19:38 > 0:19:41Gosh, look at that. It looks like a pebble, now.
0:19:41 > 0:19:42SHE LAUGHS: It does.
0:19:42 > 0:19:45- Yeah, now we're up here, Lu.- Mm.
0:19:45 > 0:19:48I've completely changed my mind about what I think the blue looks like...
0:19:48 > 0:19:50- Have you?- ..or stands for. Yeah.
0:19:50 > 0:19:53- Cos I thought it was quite celestial, you know, this blue. - Yeah.
0:19:53 > 0:19:56But all those ripples across it, totally aquatic.
0:19:56 > 0:19:58Of course, the whole thing is a Baptistery,
0:19:58 > 0:20:03so it's all about water and immersion, and truth comes through water.
0:20:03 > 0:20:05- Yeah.- Talk about immersive.
0:20:05 > 0:20:07Absorbed in this thing, in this colour.
0:20:07 > 0:20:11I think it's so rare that you experience pure colour and light like this.
0:20:11 > 0:20:13This is incredible.
0:20:13 > 0:20:19You can see why, throughout time, the stained glass window's never really lost admirers.
0:20:19 > 0:20:22You just can't beat it for sheer opulence.
0:20:23 > 0:20:25The stained glass isn't the only place
0:20:25 > 0:20:29where Spence reworked and modernised a traditional feature of a cathedral.
0:20:29 > 0:20:32The concrete and vaulted ceiling at Coventry
0:20:32 > 0:20:36has echoes of the great ribbed vaults of cathedrals like Durham and Lincoln,
0:20:36 > 0:20:38but there's a big difference.
0:20:38 > 0:20:41Conventional Gothic vaults spring from the walls
0:20:41 > 0:20:45as integral parts of a great skeletal structure.
0:20:45 > 0:20:47Not so, in this case.
0:20:47 > 0:20:51Here, the vaulting is totally separate from the roof, serving no structural function.
0:20:51 > 0:20:56I'm going to get above the vaulted ceiling and beneath the roof, to get a better view.
0:20:56 > 0:20:58Medieval stone vaults are incredibly heavy
0:20:58 > 0:21:03and their weight is transferred often via buttresses through the walls and down to the ground.
0:21:03 > 0:21:07But Spence's concept of a vault was totally different.
0:21:07 > 0:21:10This weighs very little because it's purely ornamental,
0:21:10 > 0:21:12it doesn't even touch the sides of the building,
0:21:12 > 0:21:15it's only fixed at both of the long ends.
0:21:15 > 0:21:18Now, to create this lattice network of concrete,
0:21:18 > 0:21:22he had the help of the most gifted engineer of his generation,
0:21:22 > 0:21:24and that was Ove Arup.
0:21:24 > 0:21:28And Arup suggested that the columns, 60 feet high,
0:21:28 > 0:21:30should carry mushrooms over them.
0:21:30 > 0:21:34So if you imagine that there is an umbrella like structure,
0:21:34 > 0:21:36so that the whole thing is self-supporting.
0:21:36 > 0:21:38It's a very, very clever solution
0:21:38 > 0:21:43and one of the best examples of mid-20th century engineering.
0:21:43 > 0:21:47That meant that the roof could perform its own function quite independently.
0:21:47 > 0:21:50So these reinforced concrete trusses
0:21:50 > 0:21:56hold 29,000 square feet of copper and take care of themselves.
0:22:00 > 0:22:05Whilst Spence's vision for the rebirth of the cathedral delighted and intrigued most,
0:22:05 > 0:22:07not all of his ideas met with universal approval.
0:22:09 > 0:22:11I'm making my way across the roof of the cathedral
0:22:11 > 0:22:13to see one of its most contentious features.
0:22:16 > 0:22:20That is an 80-foot-high bronze fleche,
0:22:20 > 0:22:25designed by the cathedral's engineers, Arup, as a modern take on the city's medieval steeples.
0:22:25 > 0:22:27But it wasn't universally popular.
0:22:27 > 0:22:30When Spence was giving his fundraising lectures,
0:22:30 > 0:22:33explaining that you can find such things on French cathedrals,
0:22:33 > 0:22:39a lady stepped forward and said she found objectionable what seemed to be a design for a radio mast.
0:22:39 > 0:22:42The waggish Spence replied, "Well, we can't leave it out, madam.
0:22:42 > 0:22:44"It's to receive messages from Heaven."
0:22:48 > 0:22:50Television may have been in its infancy,
0:22:50 > 0:22:53but the church authorities knew a good PR stunt when they saw one.
0:22:53 > 0:22:56The world was wowed when, rather than simply carry the fleche up to the roof,
0:22:56 > 0:23:02they borrowed an RAF helicopter to lower the 80-foot spirelet into place.
0:23:02 > 0:23:06It announced the rebirth of Coventry Cathedral was complete.
0:23:07 > 0:23:11And it's from the roof that we can see another very unusual feature of the cathedral.
0:23:11 > 0:23:13Unlike the straight walls of most churches,
0:23:13 > 0:23:15here, they're zigzagged.
0:23:15 > 0:23:19The inspiration for this striking feature came from a somewhat unorthodox source.
0:23:20 > 0:23:25Spence worked day and night over the designs for the cathedral, and ran himself down.
0:23:25 > 0:23:27At one point, he had an abscess in his gum
0:23:27 > 0:23:31and his dentist gave him a local anaesthetic, which rendered him unconscious.
0:23:31 > 0:23:35The dentist was concerned, but when Spence round, he told him he'd had a dream.
0:23:35 > 0:23:37He'd walked through his cathedral
0:23:37 > 0:23:41and turned around at the altar and saw that the walls of the nave were zigzagged,
0:23:41 > 0:23:43and it's that that gave him the inspiration.
0:23:43 > 0:23:47The dentist suggested he might charge him for the idea.
0:23:48 > 0:23:50And what these zigzag walls enable,
0:23:50 > 0:23:53is one of the most beautiful wonders of the cathedral.
0:23:53 > 0:23:57As we've seen, from the entrance, the nave seems like a concrete box,
0:23:57 > 0:24:00but when you look from the altar, at the other end of the church,
0:24:00 > 0:24:04the cathedral reveals itself as a riot of glorious colour.
0:24:04 > 0:24:10Each pair of these stained-glass windows portrays one of the five ages of man, from birth to death,
0:24:10 > 0:24:15and they combine to create a magnificent golden glow upon the high altar.
0:24:16 > 0:24:18Sitting upon this simple concrete slab,
0:24:18 > 0:24:21is another symbol of Coventry's rebirth
0:24:21 > 0:24:23and a link from past to future.
0:24:23 > 0:24:28The Holy Cross which surrounds nails reclaimed from the wreckage of the original cathedral.
0:24:28 > 0:24:33And above this, hangs the majestic 74-feet-high tapestry of Christ,
0:24:33 > 0:24:37which is the setting for my final climb.
0:24:37 > 0:24:39He's an imposing character, isn't He?
0:24:39 > 0:24:40As always.
0:24:40 > 0:24:42- HE LAUGHS - I guess it's only right.
0:24:42 > 0:24:44SHE LAUGHS Yeah!
0:24:44 > 0:24:50- But, to get up to this tapestry and face that really dominating figure...- Yeah.
0:24:50 > 0:24:53..it's going to be quite extraordinary, I think.
0:24:58 > 0:25:00Oh gosh. Look at that view, Lu.
0:25:01 > 0:25:05This is where you really appreciate all of that stained glass and the zigzag walls.
0:25:07 > 0:25:10Wow. That is fantastic.
0:25:10 > 0:25:14The tapestry, which is almost the size of a tennis court and weighs nearly a tonne,
0:25:14 > 0:25:18was designed by a little-known, but deeply religious artist,
0:25:18 > 0:25:19Graham Sutherland.
0:25:19 > 0:25:21Basil Spence came to know of Graham Sutherland
0:25:21 > 0:25:27after he visited a tapestry exhibition and saw some works by the artist.
0:25:27 > 0:25:31And he thought that if he won the commission for Coventry Cathedral,
0:25:31 > 0:25:34he'd like Sutherland to create a tapestry for it.
0:25:34 > 0:25:38But he, at first, imagined a large East Window in this space.
0:25:38 > 0:25:42And then he had a masterstroke, that the tapestry, if it filled the wall,
0:25:42 > 0:25:47could be the dominant image in the entire church.
0:25:47 > 0:25:52If so, it would be the largest tapestry of its date in the world.
0:25:52 > 0:25:54And that's just what happened.
0:25:56 > 0:26:01This magnificent rendition of Christ and the story of His birth, death and resurrection
0:26:01 > 0:26:04mirrors the experience of the city of Coventry.
0:26:04 > 0:26:06And looking back down the nave,
0:26:06 > 0:26:09you understand how all the elements of this magnificent cathedral
0:26:09 > 0:26:13combine to tell this central story.
0:26:13 > 0:26:18The way He was portrayed in the glass was, of course, as a child, sitting on the Virgin's knee.
0:26:18 > 0:26:19With... Yeah.
0:26:19 > 0:26:22But look at Him, I mean, full grown, bearded.
0:26:22 > 0:26:26- Yeah.- It's like His own life has been shown in progression through the cathedral.
0:26:26 > 0:26:30And when you look back, of course, you see the ages of man in the windows behind you.
0:26:30 > 0:26:34- So the whole thing... - That really is incredible...
0:26:34 > 0:26:36- Yeah, the whole... - ..seeing it from here.
0:26:36 > 0:26:40The whole way in which the cathedral talks about the passage of life,
0:26:40 > 0:26:43and the idea of resurrection, birth, death, renewal and so on,
0:26:43 > 0:26:44it's very powerful.
0:26:44 > 0:26:47- It all adds up, I think.- Yeah.
0:26:47 > 0:26:50The French company responsible for crafting this tapestry
0:26:50 > 0:26:52used traditional techniques.
0:26:52 > 0:26:57It took 12 expert weavers over two and a half years to create it
0:26:57 > 0:27:00on a loom that was over 500 years old.
0:27:00 > 0:27:02Mesmerising.
0:27:02 > 0:27:07I-I just can't get over how...HOW this was made.
0:27:07 > 0:27:10It just... It's a wonder of needlecraft.
0:27:10 > 0:27:12LOOMS in every sense, I think.
0:27:12 > 0:27:15SHE LAUGHS It's amazing!
0:27:15 > 0:27:17Apparently a thousand different colours of wool.
0:27:17 > 0:27:20- Really?- Yeah.
0:27:20 > 0:27:24You can sort of see that, though, when you're close up, the diff...the shades and...
0:27:24 > 0:27:26- It really does just look like a painting.- Doesn't it?
0:27:26 > 0:27:30They must have had to use an aircraft hangar to make it in, or something.
0:27:30 > 0:27:31HE LAUGHS
0:27:31 > 0:27:35I just cannot get over the size it. It's really incredible.
0:27:38 > 0:27:41Coventry Cathedral manages to do something remarkable,
0:27:41 > 0:27:47it manages a balancing act and yet retains its own very strong character.
0:27:47 > 0:27:49The old cathedral is left alone,
0:27:49 > 0:27:53respected as a monument to what the people of Coventry went through.
0:27:53 > 0:27:56Next to it is this building, which is very much of its age.
0:27:56 > 0:27:58It uses technology which is pioneering.
0:27:58 > 0:28:02And you know, this vision, this incredibly well-thought-through,
0:28:02 > 0:28:07this well-crafted monument to hope and renewal after World War Two,
0:28:07 > 0:28:10is not just for people of one faith,
0:28:10 > 0:28:12although it speaks strongly for that faith,
0:28:12 > 0:28:15the point is, reconciliation.
0:28:15 > 0:28:19And so, from the stone of the font through to the carving of the glass,
0:28:19 > 0:28:21it's people of different faiths and nations
0:28:21 > 0:28:27who've all contributed to create this marvel of the 20th century.
0:28:39 > 0:28:40Next time...
0:28:40 > 0:28:45How steel, glass and concrete translated the lessons of the past into a vision for the future,
0:28:45 > 0:28:48at the Lloyd's building in London.
0:29:05 > 0:29:08Subtitling by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:29:08 > 0:29:12E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk