Those of us who attended the November excursion to this site were very impressed with what we saw; George Demidowicz gives us the very latest information on the site:

The excavation of St Mary's Cathedral were due to close on 19 February 2000 but another three weeks were quickly organised once it was known that the contractors due to follow the archaeology were delayed. Whilst Northamptonshire Archaeology have been excavating the nave, Coventry Archaeological Unit have been busy in the cloister area evaluating areas potentially threatened by the new Visitor Centre and the walls, steps and ramps of the new cloister garden.

In the nave the south wall stands up to two metres high due to its having retained the medieval graveyard of Holy Trinity Church. Seven piers of the north and south arcades have been located; those on the north bay being diamond-shaped and probably Early English Gothic in style (13th century); on the south the two westernmost piers are rectangular and probablt Norman Romanesque (12th century) as is most of the south wall. Areas of decorated clay tiles have been found in situ and the remains of chantry chapels and their burials in the aisles.

Very exciting has been the discovery of pre-Norman conquest structures below the cathedral floor and in particular a well defined ditch - watch this space! During the rest of this year the nave and the cloister will be converted into gardens forming the first part of the Coventry's millenium project (Phoenix Initiative).

George Demidowicz