PRESS RELEASE

Graeme Pringle To: News desk From: Communication Officer for the Diocese of Coventry Date: 01 Mar 2013 Email: [email protected] Office: 024 7452 1336 Mobile: 07507 196 495

First monastic-style service at Coventry Charterhouse in 500 years A special service of monastic-style prayer has been held at Charterhouse Priory for the first time since 1539. This magnificent building, described as "a jewel in Coventry's crown of medieval heritage", has recently been acquired by the Coventry Charterhouse Preservation Trust (CPT). They are currently working on plans to open it to the public in the near future. The idea for the service came from the Bishop of Coventry, the Right Reverend Dr Christopher Cocksworth. Speaking afterwards, Bishop Christopher said: "Coventry has an amazing religious history and Charterhouse Priory played an important part in that. In this event we have been trying to reconnect people with that past of prayer and silence, community and hospitality, peace and the presence of God, to show that all of this can be a living reality today." Forty invited guests arrived on Thursday evening to find the medieval priory bathed in candlelight. The smell of incense (an ancient symbol of prayer) helped to recreate the monastic atmosphere, together with the singing of Psalms by a choir from Coventry Cathedral. These same Psalms would have been sung by the Carthusian monks who once lived in the Priory. The service of Evening Prayer was led by the Bishops of Coventry and Warwick and the Roman Catholic Dean of Coventry. Guests included the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress of Coventry, Councillor Lynnette Kelly and others who play a key part in preserving the heritage of Coventry and promoting the life of the city. Ian Harrabin, chair of the CPT, said, "Tonight has taken us back in a time-capsule to the days when the monks were here. What's so special about this building is that it has a sense of the people of the past still in it." Dr Jonathan Foyle, Chief Executive of the World Monuments Fund, had previously described Coventry Charterhouse as a "wonderfully multi-layered historic site, rare as a Carthusian Monastery and exceptional for its wall paintings." The Priory was dissolved in 1539, and the building converted to a private house. The building was largely forgotten about for hundreds of years, but it is now being restored by the CPT. During the evening Ian Harrabin explained the plans for opening the site to the public. Paul Thompson, curator at the Herbert Museum, spoke about the huge significance that the monasteries had played in the development and growth of Coventry. The Bishop of Warwick, the Right Reverend John Stroyan, then described the monastic life and the importance of prayer, silence and solitude. The site continues to be a place of pilgrimage. Canon Garry Byrne, the Catholic Dean of Coventry and Parish Priest of St Osburg's said, "The Catholic community of Coventry has come here on pilgrimage. One year our Corpus Christi procession began at Whitefriars Monastery and concluded just outside this building on the site of the old church." -ends- Page 1

Notes to Editors

For press enquiries, please contact Graeme Pringle on 024 7652 1336 or mobile 07507 196 495.

More about Coventry Charterhouse Priory Coventry Charterhouse Priory has a website at… http://thecharterhouse.tumblr.com/ Coventry Telegraph article at… http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/2012/10/09/coventry-s- charterhouse-to-be-turned-into-a-museum-92746-31993614/

Photo A low res photo is printed below (photographer Andrew Moore).

Bishop Christopher leading the service with members of Coventry Cathedral

A higher resolution version of this photo is available upon request from Graeme Pringle.

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