Coventry Cross of Nails

Short description: Symbol of peace and reconciliation after the Second World War

Coventry Cross of Nails at St. Nikolai, Kiel

A Coventry Cross of Nails (in German, Nagelkreuz von Coventry) is a Christian cross made from iron nails, employed as a symbol of peace and reconciliation. The original version was made from three large medieval nails salvaged from the Coventry Cathedral after the building was severely damaged by German bombs on 14 November 1940, during the Second World War. In the following decades, several hundred crosses have been given as gifts to various organisations, including churches, prisons and schools. The form of the cross echoes the crucifixion of Christ, and the nails with which Christ was affixed to the cross according to some accounts.

## Contents

* 1 In Coventry
* 2 Elsewhere
* 3 Gallery
* 4 See also
* 5 References

## In Coventry

Coventry Cathedral was severely damaged during the Coventry Blitz, and its roof was destroyed on 14 November 1940. The idea for the cross came from Rev Arthur Philip Wales, who was then rector of St Mark's church in Coventry, which was also damaged in the bombing, and later rector at St Michael's church in Warmington, Warwickshire. He found several large hand-forged medieval carpenters nails as he walked through the ruins of the cathedral on the morning after the bombing. He used some wire to bind together three nails into the shape of a Latin cross, with one nail vertical and two head-to-tail as a cross-piece, and presented them to the Bishop of Coventry, Mervyn Haigh. The Cathedral's Provost Richard Howard had the words "Father Forgive" carved into the wall behind the altar of the ruined building, and two charred beams fallen together into the shape of a cross were erected among the rubble. The original charred cross is now displayed in the new cathedral, constructed after the war adjacent to the ruins of the medieval cathedral, with a replica placed in the standing ruins of the old cathedral.

The original cross of nails is also retained by the new cathedral. It made a progress around the churches of the diocese in Lent 1962, returning to the new cathedral on the eve of its consecration on 25 May 1962, and is now often displayed at the High Altar, with the nails now welded into place.

## Elsewhere

In September 1947, Richard Howard visited Kiel and presented a cross made from medieval nails found in the ruins of Coventry Cathedral to the church of St Nikolai; in return, Howard was presented with a stone from the ruins of the German church. Over subsequent years, hundreds of nail crosses have been given to various organisations, originally using medieval nails from the old cathedral but more recently using modern replicas. In many places the Coventry Cross of Nails is mounted on a wall, or displayed on an altar.

The recipients of nail crosses from Coventry were brought together in 1974 to form an ecumenical "Community of the Cross of Nails", developed by Bill Williams, Provost at Coventry Cathedral from 1958 to 1981. The network of over 200 organisations in 45 countries shares a commitment to peace, justice and reconciliation. It includes dozens of churches in Germany, including the Dresden Frauenkirche, the Garrison Church in Potsdam, and Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church and Chapel of Reconciliation (Kapelle der Versöhnung) in Berlin, and in other cities in the UK and elsewhere. At many, the Coventry Litany of Reconciliation is recited each Friday; the short prayer was written by Canon Joseph Poole in 1958.

A Coventry Cross of Nails was on board the Type 42 destroyer HMS Coventry (D118) during the Falklands War, sunk with the ship and later salvaged by Royal Navy divers. It was returned to Coventry Cathedral, kept by the next HMS Coventry, a Type 22 frigate, from 1988 until she was decommissioned in 2002, and later presented to the Type 45 destroyer HMS Diamond (D34), which is affiliated to Coventry.

## Gallery

* Ruins of Coventry Cathedral on 16 November 1940

* At the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, Berlin

* At the Neue Kirche, Berlin

* At the Antoniterkirche (de), Cologne

* At the Frauenkirche, Dresden

* At Washington National Cathedral, Washington, D.C.

* Charred cross in Coventry Cathedral

* One of the four Coventry Crosses of Nails in Würzburg, placed in St. Kilian's Cathedral in a tomb from 1945 next to the Pietà, where the dead were laid to rest after the destruction of Würzburg in 1945[1]

## See also

* Lamp of Brotherhood

## References

1. ↑ "Nemecko [Cestovatelské stránky]". https://cesty.in/nemecko#wuerzburg.

* The Cross of Nails: Joining in God's mission of reconciliation, Oliver Schuegraf, p. 35-52
* Read our story, The Community of the Cross of Nails, Coventry Cathedral
* The Community of the Cross of Nails, Coventry Cathedral
* Our History, Community of the Cross of Nails (CCN) North America
* Introduction to our reconciliation ministry, Coventry Cathedral
* Coventry Cross of Nails at St Anne's, Belfast Cathedral
* New Chapel of Reconciliation and Coventry Cross of Nails, Christchurch Cathedral
* The Coventry Cross of Nails, Frauenkirche Dresden
* HMS Diamond and her crew were honoured with the Freedom of Entry to the City of Coventry, Coventry Freemens Guild
* The story of the Cross of Nails, The Archbishop of Canterbury
* The Cross of Nails from Coventry to Dresden, Crosskeys, 11 December 2015
* The Coventry Litany of Reconciliation

* v
* t
* e

Christian cross variants

modern
use|

* Anchored/Saint Clement's Cross
* Anuradhapura cross
* Cross of the Archangels
* Archiepiscopal cross
* Armenian Cross
* Arrow/Barby Cross
* Bolnisi cross
* Cross bottony
* Branch cross
* Bulgarian cross
* Byzantine cross
* File:Calvary cross.svg Calvary cross
* Canterbury cross
* Catherine wheel
* Caucasian Albanian Cross
* Celtic cross
* Cercelée
* Cross of Saint Chad
* Coptic cross
* Cross crosslet
* Cross crosslet fitchy
* Crucifix
* Cruciform halo
* Double cross
* Eastern Syriac cross
* Cross of the Evangelists
* Cross fitchy
* Cross fleury
* Cross fleury fitchy
* Saint Florian Cross
* Forked cross
* Cross fourchy
* Fylfot
* Saint George's Cross
* Globus cruciger
* Gnostic cross
* Grapevine/Saint Nino's Cross
* Greek cross
* Greek Orthodox cross
* Huguenot cross
* Saint James/Santiago Cross
* Cross of Jeremiah
* Jerusalem/Crusaders' cross
* Jerusalem cross (variant)
* Kingdom of Jerusalem cross
* Cross of Saint John
* Latin (Roman) cross
* Macedonian Cross
* Maltese cross
* Marian Cross
* Maronite cross
* Cross moline
* Nordic Cross
* Cross of Novgorod
* Occitan cross
* Papal cross
* Cross patonce
* Saint Patrick's Saltire
* Cross pattée
* Cross pattée fitchée
* Patriarchal cross
* Cross of Saint Peter
* Cross of Saint Philip
* Pommy cross
* Portate cross/Cross of Saint Gilbert
* Cross potent
* Cross quadrate
* Ringed cross
* Russian cross
* Russian (Orthodox) cross
* Cross of Salem
* Saltire/Saint Andrew's Cross
* Serbian cross
* Serbian Orthodox cross
* Saint Thomas Cross
* Tau Cross/Saint Anthony's Cross
* Western Syriac cross

Historical|

* Avellane cross
* Aviz cross
* Brigid's cross
* Carolingian cross
* Consecration crosses
* Coptic cross
* Cross and Crown
* Cuthbert's pectoral cross
* Early Coptic cross
* Engrailed cross
* Cross erminée
* Gammadion
* Crux gemmata
* Saint Julian's cross
* Katanga Cross
* Lazarus' cross
* Lorraine cross
* Cross of Neith
* Nestorian cross
* Cross of Peñalba
* Pierced cross
* Pierced cross quarterly
* Knights Templar cross
* Teutonic Order cross
* Two-barred cross
* Victory Cross
* Voided cross

function|

* Altar cross
* Blessing cross
* Conciliation cross
* Crosses in heraldry
* Nordic
* Pisan
* High cross
* Market cross
* Mercat cross
* Memorial cross
* Mission cross
* Monumental cross
* Necklace
* Pectoral cross
* Plague cross
* Processional cross
* Rood/Triumphal cross
* Summit cross
* Wayside cross

Christograms,
Chrismons|

* Chi Rho
* Christogram
* IX monogram
* Labarum
* Signum manus
* Staurogram/Monogrammatic cross/Tau Rho

See also|

* Ankh
* Armenian eternity sign
* Balkenkreuz
* Ichthys
* Irminsul
* Kolovrat
* Mjölnir
* Rose Cross
* Rota
* Solomon's knot
* Sauwastika
* Scientology cross
* Shamrock
* Shield of the Trinity
* Sunwheel swastika
* Sun cross
* Swastika
* Triskelion/Triskele
* Descriptions in antiquity of the execution cross

*   *   * Media related to Category:Christian crosses at Wikimedia Commons

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