Some pieces of carved work were patched together in the windows of the
inn built on its site and there remain.

The modern history of Coventry, consisting of the ordinary events and
vicissitudes of civic life and the changes and fluctuations in its
trades, apart from that of its parish churches which is elsewhere
given, does not come within the scope of this handbook.

[Illustration: SEAL OF THE PRIORY.]

[Illustration: INTERIOR OF THE WEST END OF THE PRIORY CHURCH.]


THE RUINS OF THE PRIORY AND CATHEDRAL CHURCH


The Priory buildings and grounds covered a large area to the North of
the two parish churches on the gentle slope descending to the little
river Sherbourne, Priory Row forming its southern boundary.

The church occupied the South-West portion of this site, extending
about 400 feet from the excavated west end to a point a little beyond
the narrow lane called Hill Top. The excavation shows that the church
stood on a sloping site, the floor level being some ten feet lower
than that of Trinity Church. It was cruciform, with two western towers
and a central one, and is believed to have had three spires similar to
those of Lichfield but probably earlier in point of date. On the
substructure of the North-West Tower now stands the house of the
_mistress_ of the Girls' Blue Coat School. The interior of the West
end to a height of 5 to 8 feet, with the responds of the nave arcades