Believe it or not, Coventry is a city brimming with fascinating history. Legend has it that it was the birthplace of St. George and where Shakespeare abandoned a woman at the altar to go and marry Anne Hathaway. Now another forgotten historic site has been restored – and is opening to the public this weekend.
Coventry’s Charterhouse dates back to 1381 and is the only former Carthusian monastery in the country with interiors still intact.
The building was gifted to the people of Coventry in 1940 but remained largely invisible to the city’s residents. Together with a group locals, property developer Ian Harrabin campaigned to prevent it from being sold for commercial use 11 years ago. In the decade since, £10 million was raised to restore the building, which is finally ready to be unveiled to the public.
The new visitor attraction has three floors of exhibits detailing the building’s history. Its gardens have been restored alongside the medieval and Elizabethan paintings that were found inside covered in plastic wrapping.
Harrabin told The Guardian that the paintings have ‘been described as the best piece of medieval art outside of Westminster Abbey’.
The Charterhouse will also feature a café-bar headed up by Michelin-star chef Glynn Purnell.
‘The building had been gifted to the people, the city, and we thought we should do what we could to make that happen, to bring it back to life,’ Harrabin said. ‘It’s been a long road to raise the funds and restore what is one of the finest medieval buildings in the city.’
The project led to the founding of the Historic Coventry Trust, which has taken guardianship of a number of the city’s historic buildings and hopes to boost the visitor economy of the area.
The Charterhouse opens to the public on April 1. Adult tickets cost £9 and can be pre-booked here.
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