Owen Owen Building, Coventry

Coventry ( (listen) KOV-ən-tree or KUV-) is a city in the West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed by Coventry City Council. Formerly part of Warwickshire until 1451, Coventry had a population of 345,328 at the 2021 census, making it the tenth largest city in England and the 12th largest in the United Kingdom.It is the second largest city in the West Midlands region, after Birmingham, from which it is separated by an area of green belt known as the Meriden Gap, and the third largest in the wider Midlands after Birmingham and Leicester. The city is part of a larger conurbation known as the Coventry and Bedworth Urban Area, which in 2021 had a population of 389,603.Coventry is 18 miles (29 km) east-south-east of Birmingham, 24 miles (39 km) south-west of Leicester, 10 miles (16 km) north of Warwick and 94 miles (151 km) north-west of London. Coventry is also the most central city in England, being only 12 miles (19 km) south-west of the country's geographical centre in Leicestershire.Coventry became an important and wealthy city of national importance during the Middle Ages. Later it became an important industrial centre, becoming home to a large bicycle industry in the 19th century, in the 20th century it became a major centre of the British motor industry, this made it a target for German air raids during the Second World War, and in November 1940, much of the historic city centre was destroyed by a large air raid. The city was rebuilt after the war, and the motor industry thrived until the mid-1970s, although by the late-1970s/early-1980s Coventry was in an economic crisis and amongst the country's highest levels of unemployment due to major plant closures and the collapse of the respective local supply-chain. In recent years Coventry has seen regeneration and an increase in population. The city has three universities: Coventry University in the city centre, the University of Warwick on the southern outskirts and the smaller private Arden University with its headquarters close to Coventry Airport. Coventry was awarded UK City of Culture for 2021.

Self Sacrifice, better known as the Lady Godiva statue is an equestrian statue of Lady Godiva in Broadgate, Coventry. The statue is bronze, on a plinth of Portland stone.

The Old Blue Coat School is a building in the city centre of Coventry, England. It was built in 1856 on the site of the Priory of St Mary, and is currently used by the Holy Trinity Church.

Holy Trinity Church, Coventry, is a parish church of the Church of England in Coventry City Centre, West Midlands, England. Above the chancel arch is an impressive Doom wall-painting.

Coventry Cross was an important landmark in the cathedral city of Coventry, England. Standing between Cuckoo Lane and Holy Trinity Church and in the alley known as Trinity Churchyard, it was a modern version of the historic market cross, such as was common in many medieval market towns.

The Belgrade Theatre is a live performance venue in Coventry, England. It was the first civic theatre to be built in Britain after the Second World War and is now a Grade II listed building.

St Mary's Priory and Cathedral was a Roman Catholic institution in Coventry, England, founded in the 12th century by transformation of the former monastery of St Mary, and destroyed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the early 16th century. It was located on a site north of Holy Trinity and the former St Michael's parish churches in the centre of the city, on a site bordered by Priory Row to the south, Trinity Street to the west, and the River Sherbourne to the north. Excavated remains from the west end of the cathedral are open to the public.

County Hall is a historic former courthouse in Cuckoo Lane in Coventry's Cathedral Quarter. It is a Grade II* listed building.

The Golden Cross is one of the oldest pubs in Coventry, West Midlands, and one of the longest-established alcohol-serving venues in England.

The Old Grammar School, Coventry is a Grade I listed building in Coventry, England on the corner of Bishop Street and Hales Street.

BBC CWR (Coventry & Warwickshire Radio) is the BBC's local radio station serving Coventry and Warwickshire. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios at Priory Place in Coventry city centre. According to RAJAR, the station has a weekly audience of 57,000 listeners and a 3.5% share as of December 2022.

Ford's Hospital, Coventry, traditionally known as Grey Friars Hospital, is a grade I listed 16th century half-timbered almshouse in Greyfriars Lane, Coventry. It was founded by the merchant William Ford (or perhaps 'Fourd') in 1509 to provide accommodation for six elderly people: five men and one woman. Despite the earlier name of "Grey Friars", it bears no relationship to the Franciscan Order but was so named because of its location on Greyfriars Lane.Inside the building is a narrow courtyard (13 yd × 4 yd (11.9 m × 3.7 m)). It has been considered by historians and writers to be a particularly fine example of English domestic architecture of the period.Following Ford's death, the endowment was extended in 1517 to allow six places for couples to live together. In 1529, it was extended further to allow five more couples to stay. According to W. Hickling, a Coventry historian writing in 1846, it was by then serving forty women, each of whom received an allowance of three shillings and six pence per week.During the Coventry Blitz, the building was hit by German bombing, like many other parts of the city. A bomb dropped on 14 October 1940 killed the warden, a nurse and six residents. It was restored with original timbers between 1951 and 1953. The building is located on the site of a chapel within Greyfriars Friary. In 1940, John Bailey Shelton, a Coventry archaeologist discovered encaustic tiles typical of those found in a chapel. The building was built with a considerable amount of teak.In 2006, the building was used as a location for the episode of Doctor Who called The Shakespeare Code. In attempting to reconstruct the Globe Theatre, Shakespeare scholars have used Ford's Hospital to understand Elizabethan doorways.