Coventry Cathedral calls for witnesses after Baptistery window damage
Staff say they're working with police to find out who's responsible
On Monday the 29th April, Coventry Cathedral staff say they were shocked to discover significant damage to the beautiful baptistery window. They're working with police, to try to establish exactly what happened and are keen to hear from anyone with information. It's believed to have happened sometime between 4pm on Sunday and 8am on Monday (29 April).
The Baptistery Window is one of the most popular sights in Cathedral, described as a ‘masterpiece’ by the architect Sir Basil Spence. Created by artist, John Piper and glassmaker, Patrick Reyntiens, for the New Cathedral, which opened in 1962, after the WW2 bombing that left the original St. Michael’s Cathedral in ruins after the fateful night of the Blitz in 1940.
The Baptistery Window is one of the most iconic and famous twentieth century stained glass windows in the country, made of 198 brightly coloured glass panels and measuring 26 metres high. It was voted by the Architectural Digest in 20231 as one of the world's top 25 most breath-taking stained glass windows.
Dean John Witcombe, of Coventry Cathedral, said: “We were dismayed to see the damage done to this beautiful window. We know how much this building means to our city, and our visitors from across the world, and we hope that we can establish how the damage occurred.”
Coventry Cathedral is entirely self-funded, and receives no government funding towards maintaining both the old and New Cathedral, which cost £3,000 a day to keep open for visitors. The Cathedral relies solely on donations and gifts to stay open daily.
If you would like to make a donation to help support the upkeep of the buildings you can do so here
Anyone with information is asked to contact police on 101 or message on Live Chat online, quoting crime reference 20/451519/24.
Alternatively, contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or visit www.crimestoppers-uk.org