The great educational experiment

Abstract

On Sunday the 5th of March this year I was taken to see the new cathedral at Coventry; the day before, at my own request, I had visited the old cathedral at Ely. Parts of Coventry Cathedral horrified me, as I had anticipated; the so-called Chapel of Unity is the least ecumenical and, indeed, the least aesthetically pleasing building it has ever been my misfortune to set eyes OD. But other parts impressed me. The five stained glass windows down either side are very striking: the first one green for spring and youth; the second red for summer and maturity; the third yellow for autumn and old age; the fourth black for death; and, the fifth white for hope and resurrection. But what impressed m e most of all was how cleverly the new cathedral had been made to rise from the carefully-preserved ruins of the old.