Coventry, a city, parliamentary and municipal borough, and manufacturing town in the north of Warwickshire, on the Sherbourne, an affluent of the Avon, 18½ miles ESE. of Birmingham, and 94 NW. of London. It stands on a gentle eminence in a valley, with a ridge of hill on the south, and still contains some old houses, with timbered fronts projecting into the streets, and which belong to the 15th and 16th centuries. Town improvements in recent years have necessitated the removal of many old houses and the construction of new streets, the area of the city being greatly extended. The modern buildings include a corn exchange, market-hall, baths, Free Public Library, School of Art, new grammar and other schools, churches, chapels, and hotels, many tricycle and bicycle works, the Coventry and Warwickshire Hospital, and the Coventry Provident Dispensary (about 20,000 members being connected with the last-mentioned institution). Coventry is rich in benevolent and charitable institutions, which have been greatly augmented by the benefactions of the late David Spencer. In 1887 Mr Spencer provided a building for a technical school; a few years earlier he had given four thousand guineas for a public recreation ground; and at his death (June 9, 1888) he bequeathed about £100,000 for benevolent purposes. A beautiful approach to the city from the London and North-western Railway Station has been made by the opening of the Coventry Park for building purposes, and the laying out and ornamentation of Grey Friars' Green. A statue of Sir Thomas White has been erected, and a memorial of James Starley, the inventor of the modern tricycle. At a cost of many thousands of pounds the principal streets have been widened, and a steam tramway now runs through the city. During recent years upwards of £70,000 has been expended in church restoration, and during 1887-89 all of Tennyson's 'three tall spires' were in the restorers' hands. Large sums have also been expended by the various nonconformist congregations in the erection of new, and the restoration of existing places of worship. The chief buildings are the ancient churches, with imposing spires, that of St Michael's rising to a height of 300 feet. St Michael's Church, built 1230-1395, is said to be the largest parish church in England, and is one of the noblest of the lighter Gothic structures. St Mary's Hall, built in the 14th century, for the Guild, is one of the finest specimens of ornamental work in England, with grotesque carved oak roof, ancient tapestry, and great painted window. The ancient walls, three miles in circuit, round Coventry were demolished by Charles II. Coventry returns one member to parliament. The chief manufactures are ribbons, watches, bicycles and tricycles (see CYCLING), cotton, worsted and woollen goods, and art metal works (the Albert Memorial, Hyde Park, London, being of Coventry manufacture). There are large silk-dyeing works. Coventry is nearly in the centre between the four great English ports, London, Bristol, Liverpool, and Hull, and has extensive canal communication with other parts of the country. The city is in an excellent sanitary state, its sewage being treated by an improved system of precipitation, at works erected at Whitley, about one mile from Coventry. The gas and water works both belong to the corporation. Under the Local Government Bill (1888), Coventry is reconstituted a county, and thus reverts to an ancient privilege which it enjoyed from 1451 to 1842. The ancient 'Coventry Great Fair' (formerly eight days) is now held annually, for five days, commencing on Whitmonday. Pop. of parliamentary borough (1841) 30,743; (1861) 41,647; (1881) 46,563. A county borough since 1888, it had in 1891 a pop. of 54,743.
The name Coventry has usually been interpreted 'Convent-town,' but as the form in Domesday is Couentrev, it is more likely 'town on the Couen'—Couen being the ancient British name of the
Sherbourne, and trev being 'town.' It is certainly a place of high antiquity. In 1043 Earl Leofric and his wife, Lady Godiva, founded here a magnificent Benedictine monastery. In memory of the noble deed of Godiva (q.v.), curious and splendid processions were formerly held in Coventry. In the 15th century religious mysteries or plays were often acted here by the Grey Friars before kings. Henry VIII. demolished the beautiful cathedral of Coventry. Here occurred the famous meeting for the intended trial by battle between the Dukes of Norfolk and Hereford, immortalised in Shakespeare's Richard II. Two memorable parliaments were also held in the monastery of Coventry in the 15th century. The one contained no lawyers, while the other passed attainders against the Duke of York and others. In the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries, Coventry was famous for woollens, broadcloths, caps, and blue thread bonnets. 'George Eliot' lived in Foleshill Road during 1841-42. See local histories by T. Sharp (Birm. 1871) and M. D. Harris (1898).