Coventry
Britain's first car factory 1896, 'British Detroit' by 1930s, cathedral destroyed 1940, Spence's new cathedral 1962. Now pivoting to electric vehicle batteries.
Coventry invented the British car industry, then watched it die. In 1896, Henry Lawson founded the Daimler Motor Company at The Motor Mills—Britain's first automobile factory. The city had the preconditions: watchmakers contributed precision engineering, bicycle manufacturers contributed mechanical expertise, and textile mills contributed cheap labor.
By the 1930s, Coventry was 'British Detroit': Jaguar, Rover, Humber, and Hillman all produced here. Car ownership doubled nationally, and Coventry prospered. But the concentration made it a target. On November 14, 1940, German bombers destroyed the medieval city center in a raid so devastating that 'coventration' became Nazi terminology for total urban destruction. St. Michael's Cathedral was gutted, leaving only its spire and ruined walls.
The postwar rebuild created something unprecedented: Sir Basil Spence's new cathedral (consecrated 1962) was built adjacent to the ruins, linking destruction to resurrection. The Phoenix Initiative continues this symbolism. Meanwhile, British automotive decline accelerated. The 1980s brought mass layoffs and one of Britain's highest unemployment rates. The factories that made Coventry closed or moved.
The city now reinvents itself around advanced manufacturing and electrification. Coventry University's National Transport Design Centre trains the next generation of vehicle designers. A planned gigafactory for electric vehicle batteries, approved in 2021, aims to create 20,000 jobs and bring £2 billion in investment.
By 2026, Coventry will test whether the skills that built internal combustion can build what replaces it—just as watchmaking once became bicycle-making, then car-making.