Accession Code: wu0302 Title: Coventry:The Old Cathedral Spire Date completed: 1988 Medium: Drawing Material: Charcoal Height (mm): 845 Width (mm): 595 Depth (mm): n/a Inscription: None Location Name: University House Location Description: Location Floor: 1

In 1988 the South Bank Centre commissioned Creffield to produce a series of drawings of English cathedrals for a touring exhibition. He made a number of studies in the ruins of Coventry Cathedral, specially for the Mead Gallery showing. In 1989 the University bought three of these drawings.

A year later Creffield wrote about his experience:

"The spire and empty shell of the old cathedral church of Coventry is closely surrounded by tall trees it is also in a secluded but busy part of the city centre. These two conditions dictated that I drew either in the winter or early spring at dawn or in the evening. I returned a number of times but the final drawings were made on the evening/morning of 23rd/24th March 1988. There was an angry, fitful, buffeting, equinoctial gale blowing and it was only later when looking at the drawings I don't look at the drawings while drawing, I simply smell, listen and respond to them that I recognised a visual emotional connection in them with that terrible night in 1940 when the cathedral was gutted by fire bombs."