Coventry's Charterhouse to be turned into a museum

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Coventry's Charterhouse to be turned into a museum

Postby dutchman » Tue Oct 09, 2012 1:21 pm

Plans are underway to transform one of Coventry’s “hidden gems” into a museum and tourist attraction.

Vital funding has been approved to support plans for the restoration of Coventry’s Charterhouse building in Whitley.

The medieval Grade I listed building, off London Road, is one of Coventry’s oldest buildings dating back to the 14th century.

Its future has been hanging in the balance since City College, which owns the site, decided it was no longer needed for teaching space.

The Coventry Charterhouse Preservation Trust (CCPT), a charity set up by local people to preserve the building and open it up to the public, has now been awarded a Architectural Heritage Fund grant for £7,500 to cover the cost of employing specialists to explore the options for the building in preparation for a bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Ultimately, the trust plans to take over ownership of the Charterhouse to open it as a museum and park in line with the wishes of former Coventry mayor Colonel William Wyley, who left the building to the people of Coventry in 1940.

Trust members say the grant highlights the importance of the building to national heritage bodies, and is a significant step towards their aim of preserving the building for future generations.

Ian Harrabin, chairman of CCPT, said: “There are around 500,000 listed buildings in the UK, and only two per cent of them have Grade I status.

“The Charterhouse dating from 1381 is one of the Coventry’s most important buildings, yet is probably the least known. Few people have ever been inside.

“It’s at the heart of the local community, but it’s also a building of national significance.

“The aim is to open the building as a small stately home.

“This grant is the first step for the charity on what will be a long road and we are very grateful to the AHF for their support.”

Over the next few weeks experts will look at the cost of restoring and adapting the building, whether additions should be made and how it will all be funded. A key issue will be the maintenance costs of the building and how these will be covered.

Ian Lush, AHF’s chief executive, said: “Charterhouse is a hidden gem. Rarely do we have application to support a building of this age and Charterhouse’s medieval wall paintings dating from the 1400s are almost unique in this country.

“The AHF’s trustees are pleased to be able to support proposals to open up the building to the public.”

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Re: Coventry's Charterhouse to be turned into a museum

Postby dutchman » Sat Nov 24, 2012 2:15 pm

Ownership of historic Charterhouse Building handed over to trust

A MILESTONE has been reached in the campaign to restore one of Coventry’s most historic buildings.

A charitable trust formed to save the medieval Charterhouse, off London Road, has finally been handed the keys to the grade one-listed building after a battle to stop it being sold by City College.

The Charterhouse is of national importance and was originally part of the Carthusian Priory of St Anne, founded in 1381. It became a private house until 1940 when it was gifted by Colonel Wyley to the city for use as a museum and park.

In recent years it was being used by City College as a training centre, but the college has now handed ownership over to the Charterhouse Priory Trust, which was set up last year in a bid to open the building to the public for the first time in its 600-year history. The move follows the securing of funding from Santander Bank and Architectural Heritage Fund to explore options for the building in preparation for a bid to the Heritage Lottery.

The Charterhouse keys were officially handed over at a ceremony at the Belgrade Theatre this week.

Ian Harrabin, chair of the CPT, told more than 120 people at the event: “There has been a tremendous amount of work done by a great many people to reach this stage – but in many ways this is just the start.

“All the authorities involved, local people and my fellow trustees have all been really supportive. I am not saying it has been easy to get to this stage, but we have made it, and that is an important milestone.

“What has driven us on is that we know what a fantastic building this is, and that it is virtually unknown by the city and its people.

“The grounds and the building have a quite magical feel and we passionately believe that more should be made of the building and that it should be retained for the people of the city.”

King Richard II laid the original foundation stone of the Priory, which was partially demolished after the Dissolution of the Monasteries during the reign of Henry VIII, but significant parts of the building remain.

Features of note include the original Priors lodging, dating back to around 1400, and alterations made in the 1500s following dissolution of the monasteries, original moulded stone fireplaces, stone tracery and corbels, which still exist along with wooden panelling believed to date back to Elizabethan times.

But the most celebrated features are the medieval wall paintings which depict the crucifixion, and paintings from the 15th and 16th centuries which feature early renaissance motifs.

Ian Lush, AHF’s chief executive, said: “I see a lot of buildings in my job, but the Charterhouse really excited me. I had been told that I should travel up to see it, and I was certainly not disappointed.

“It is a magnificent and significant building really hidden away but just a few minutes walk from the city centre. There is clearly a great determination to preserve and restore the Charterhouse and I wish the trust great success.”

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Re: Coventry's Charterhouse to be turned into a museum

Postby dutchman » Sat Aug 17, 2013 2:51 pm

Coventry Charterhouse to reopen as visitor attraction

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A former monastery in Coventry is to be reopened as a visitor attraction.

The Grade I-listed Charterhouse, a Carthusian monastery dating from 1381, was previously used by the City College.

Ownership of the building was passed to the Charterhouse Trust in November last year.

The trust has been awarded £10,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) to work on its "ambitious" plans for the building.

The secretary of the trust, John Ruddick, said a lot of work needed to be done before the building could open to visitors and it was hoped the trust could apply for major grants to fund the work by the end of the year.

He said the HLF money would be used to pay for advice on business plans and explore ideas on what will be displayed in the building.

The city council said the main Prior's House had been hardly altered since Elizabethan times and features intact wall paintings from the 15th and 16th Centuries.

The trust said much of the large complex of buildings on the estate was demolished after the dissolution of the monasteries in the 16th Century.

The existing structures were converted into a private house and eventually fell into the ownership of the City College before being passed to the Charterhouse Trust.

Coventry City Council is the trustee of the charity.

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Re: Coventry's Charterhouse to be turned into a museum

Postby dutchman » Fri Sep 13, 2013 8:15 pm

City's Charterhouse museum plan is given huge cash boost by English Heritage

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The grand opening of one of Coventry’s most historical buildings has moved a step closer thanks to a massive cash boost.

Work is set to begin this year to open the city’s magnificent Charterhouse building to the public after the trust behind the plans received £144,000 from English Heritage.

The grant was secured by the Charterhouse Coventry Preservation Trust who want to return the medieval Grade I-listed building off London Road back to its former glory and open it as a tourist attraction and museum.

The building is all that survives of the old Carthusian Monastery of Saint Anne and incorporates the Prior’s lodging and monk’s refectory from medieval times, when the priory was founded by Lord Zouche of Harringworth in 1381.

The main Prior’s House has been little altered since Elizabethan times with intact wall paintings from the 15th and 16th Centuries.

Ian Harrabin, chairman of the Coventry Charterhouse Preservation Trust, said: “When we took ownership last year the walls were already in a desperate state and we knew they needed urgent attention.

“The support from English Heritage has been fantastic at this early stage, although we still need to find the remaining 20 per cent of the cost.

“We welcome all contributions to help restore the buildings. The plans for what is becoming a major project to restore and open up the entire estate to public access will take a few years to deliver.

"While the planning and fundraising for the major project is going on, it will be a real boost to confidence to show some physical progress on site.”

The sandstone walls that surround the monastery are a scheduled ancient monument now on English Heritage’s At Risk register and phase one work, which is being 80 per cent funded by English Heritage, includes the restoration and rebuilding of 90 metres of the inner precinct wall.

There will also be surveys of the wall paintings to guide future restoration work.

Dr Sarah Lewis, principal heritage at risk adviser at English Heritage, said: “The walls at Coventry’s Charterhouse are a very rare survivor of national, if not international, significance.

"Coventry’s rich medieval history has left a number of these gems that are finally getting the attention they deserve. We are particularly pleased at the growing heritage partnership in Coventry with the council and community working together with national institutions to bring the city’s heritage to life.”

* The Charterhouse will be one of the key attractions of this year’s heritage weekend , which starts tomorrow. Guided tours will take place from 10am to 4pm and a traditional tea and cakes stall and music from the pupils of the neighbouring Blue Coat School will also be among the attractions.

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Re: Coventry's Charterhouse to be turned into a museum

Postby dutchman » Thu Oct 10, 2013 1:51 pm

Coventry Charterhouse on English Heritage At Risk list

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A former monastery in Coventry has been added to a list of the country's most at risk buildings.

The Grade I-listed Charterhouse, off the London Road, dates from 1381.

Formerly owned by City College and used as council premises, a charitable trust took over the building in November last year and attracted Heritage Lottery Funding for a plan to open the site as a visitor attraction.

Volunteers say funds are urgently needed to repair a leaking roof.

'Wall paintings'

English Heritage publishes its At Risk register annually.

Dr Sarah Lewis, from the organisation, said: "The register is a way of raising the profile of sites so that they're more successful in their fundraising events and so that more people get involved and interested and start caring about what is local and in poor condition that perhaps they hadn't noticed before."

She said the urgent need to protect "fantastic wall paintings" from the 15th and 16th Centuries at the Charterhouse was key to the property's inclusion on the list for the first time.

"A leaking roof at the Charterhouse is even more critical than a leaking roof in a building that doesn't have the same vulnerable plasterwork inside," she added.

Ian Harribin from the Charterhouse Coventry Preservation Trust said: "It [the listing] really helps the fundraising effort to restore all the buildings.

"Funding from charitable sources and other bodies like the lottery is very competitive and they prioritise their funding to those most at need."

In August it was announced the trust has ambitions to open the property as a visitor attraction, helped by £10,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

The secretary of the Charterhouse Coventry Preservation Trust, John Ruddick, said plans are underway to apply for major grants to fund extensive restoration work.

Coventry At Risk sites

    Nonconformist Chapel to the Cemetery, London Road
    Inner medieval precinct wall, London Road
    Basement on site of Old Star Inn, Earl Street
    The Old Grammar School (St John's Hospital), Hales Street
    Priory Ruins, Coventry
    Cook Street Gate, Coventry
    Coventry City Walls, Coventry

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Re: Coventry's Charterhouse to be turned into a museum

Postby dutchman » Tue Mar 10, 2015 2:29 am

Charterhouse wins £200,000 English Heritage grant to repair medieval walls

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Coventry's Charterhouse restoration has been given a £200,000 boost which will help rebuild the medieval walls.

English Heritage has given a grant of £203,087 towards repairing and rebuilding the medieval priory precinct walls at the Charterhouse off London Road.

Founded in 1381, the Carthusian Priory was the last of the four great monasteries in the city and is now owned by the Charterhouse Coventry Presentation Trust who took over from Coventry City Council through an asset transfer.

The Charterhouse site includes a grade I listed building, protected below ground remains and the protected precinct walls which all sit within the London Road conservation area.

The inner and outer precinct walls, which surround the buried remains of the priory, are impressive in both their survival and appearance and it is the inner walls which will be repaired using this English Heritage grant. Work on site has just started and will be completed in the Summer.

The priory was founded by Richard II who laid the foundation stone of the church himself in 1385. During Henry VIII’s dissolution of the monasteries in 1539, most of the buildings were demolished leaving only a few remaining, making this site particularly special.

Dr Sarah Lewis, Principal Heritage at Risk Adviser for English Heritage in the West Midlands said : “Around 600 metres of surviving precinct wall gives us an idea of the original scale of the priory.

''This site has been on the Heritage at Risk Register since 1998, so English Heritage is excited to be contributing to the conservation of this amazing site at last.”

Ian Harrabin, Chairman of the Charterhouse Coventry Presentation Trust, said: “The precinct walls are a hugely important feature of the site and are set in a semi-rural landscape in the heart of the modern city.

''A large section of the Inner Precinct wall, was in a very poor state and it is wonderful that English Heritage has provided a grant, supplemented by funding from Pilgrim Trust, to enable restoration to commence.”

Look: What is Coventry Charterhouse and why is it of national importance?

“The Charterhouse is part of a large 70 acre Heritage Park project – supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund - that will take some years to deliver.

''To be able to start restoration work early on in the overall project has proved to be a major boost to the community and the trust’s confidence and credibility in delivering the wider ambitious project.

''The project has really captured people’s interest and in a city that has lost so much since the 1930s, there is now renewed interest and energy in the city’s medieval past.”

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Re: Coventry's Charterhouse to be turned into a museum

Postby dutchman » Tue Aug 23, 2016 9:11 pm

Medieval heritage park and trail around Charterhouse and cemetery set for approval

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Coventry City Council says it is set to approve plans for the creation of the Charterhouse Heritage Park and Trail.

The Council is working in partnership with the Historic Coventry Trust on the plans, which centre around the 14th century Charterhouse and Paxton’s Arboretum Cemetery in London Road.

Work on the trail will also include opening up areas of the River Sherbourne to create a river side walk.

Councillor Jim O’Boyle, Coventry City Council’s cabinet member for jobs and regeneration, said: “The creation of the Charterhouse Heritage Park and Trail will be brilliant for the city.

“Coventry has a rich history and an amazing heritage, but much of it is tucked away and largely unseen.

“The heritage trail will allow us to open up a green corridor connecting the city centre to the Charterhouse and helping local people and visitors to understand more about the amazing historical story that our city has to tell.

“The cemetery on London Road is a real hidden gem, designed by Joseph Paxton and opened in 1847 it includes a number of listed buildings.

“It will also create improved walking and cycling links in the area and encourage more people to get out and explore their area.

“It will also unearth our hidden river that to many has lain hidden underneath jungle of buildings and roads.

“If we can finally have our River Sherbourne free for all to see again after decades of invisibility, we will have done a massive favour to the citizens of our fine city.”

The trail would include a two mile loop walk and cycle path along riverside parkland and through woodland.

The first phases of the project at the Charterhouse and cemetery have received initial support from the Heritage Lottery Fund and designs are currently being worked up.

The Trust’s plans will be available to view by the public over the weekend of September 11 and 12 at Charterhouse as part of the Heritage Open Days event.

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Re: Coventry's Charterhouse to be turned into a museum

Postby dutchman » Wed Feb 08, 2017 10:07 pm

Plans unveiled for restored Charterhouse - including café, visitors centre and wedding venue

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This is what Coventry’s historic Charterhouse could look like after a huge renovation and restoration project.

Historic Coventry have released images of what the 14th century monastery in London Road could look like after investment from Heritage Lottery Fund, Historic England and other supporters.

According to this month’s newsletter, work to restore the former refectory and house will begin in early 2018, as well as work to build new facilities on the site, including a café, shop and visitor and conference centre. It could also be used to host weddings and events.

Two monks cells and part of the inner cloister will be reconstructed as part of the proposed work.

Work will also be done to transform the gardens and parkland surrounding the site that was once used as part of Coventry City College.

Trustees of Charterhouse say that their aim “is to tell the stories of the Charterhouse from its inception as a Carthusian Monastery, a place of silent worship, a Tudor home, market garden and provider of food to local dignitaries, and a Victorian home, until its last owner Col William Wyley, who bequeathed the house to the city.

“The ultimate aim of the project is to live up to the wishes of this bequest.”

They added that they want to “key times in the site’s history, but also acknowledge that there is still lots of history to be discovered through ongoing archaeology and research.”

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Re: Coventry's Charterhouse to be turned into a museum

Postby dutchman » Mon Mar 26, 2018 8:42 pm

Coventry monastery founded in 1385 to open to the public in 2020

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The remains of a monastery founded in 1385 by Richard II, and the spectacular wall paintings added in later centuries, will open to the public for the first time almost 80 years after being left to the people of Coventry by a wealthy local businessman.

A grant of £4.3m from the heritage lottery fund to be announced on Monday will leave the preservation trust which now owns the Charterhouse, a complex of medieval and later Grade I listed buildings surrounded by 70 acres of parkland, within sight of its fundraising target for restoration. It is planned to open in 2020 with a visitor centre, cafe, and recreations of the modest cells of the Carthusian monks, in the run-up to Coventry taking on the City of Culture title in 2021.

The parkland includes the site of an aborted duel in 1398 that led to Richard’s downfall, and the start of the Wars of the Roses. A crowd had gathered to watch the duel to the death between Henry Bolingbroke and Thomas Mowbray, but Richard stopped the fight and banished both men. The following year Henry returned with an army to become Henry IV, and Richard died – probably murdered – imprisoned in Pontefract castle.

The site was left to the people of Coventry in 1940 by the businessman Colonel W F Wyley, whose only son died in the Battle of the Somme. His family rediscovered the wall paintings hidden behind panelling, which date from the 15th and 16th centuries and are of national importance – including a wall painted to imitate the far more costly effect of tapestry hangings.

The buildings have lain empty, and on the buildings at risk register with leaking roofs and gutters threatening the fragile paintings, since 2009 when a local college moved out.

The trust acquired the site in an outcry over proposals to dispose of it on the open market. With the grant, it is now just £350,000 short of its £8m target – though Ian Harrabin, the chair of the Historic Coventry trust says it will cost far more to restore the entire site which includes a Victorian cemetery designed by Joseph Paxton, and a viaduct designed by the railway engineer Robert Stephenson.

Although many of the buildings were demolished after the dissolution of the monasteries, the prior’s lodgings and refectory were kept as secular buildings and survived remarkably unaltered, in use as private residences from Tudor times into the mid-20th century.

Extensive remains of other vanished buildings – including the cloister – remain below ground, adding up to one of the best preserved of the handful of Carthusian monasteries built in England.

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*The duel was actually to be fought on Gosford Green and had nothng to do with Charterhouse! :clown:
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Re: Coventry's Charterhouse to be turned into a museum

Postby dutchman » Thu Nov 10, 2022 4:56 pm

Former Coventry monastery among at-risk buildings saved

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A former monastery is among 13 endangered sites in the West Midlands saved from ruin, according to Historic England.

More than £4m has been spent on Coventry Charterhouse on London Road to turn it into a visitor centre.The Grade I listed former monastery was founded in 1381 as one of nine Carthusian Houses - a Catholic religious order - and grew until the dissolution of the monasteries under Henry VIII.

It was added to the register in 2013 as Historic England said it was not being fully used, the roof was in poor condition and the "exceptional" wall paintings were under threat.

Repairs began in October 2019 with more than £4m of funding and all works on the roof and external buildings were finished in May ahead of it becoming a visitor centre.

While a date has not been set for the site to reopen, the conservation body said the completed repairs meant it was no longer deemed at risk.

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