A Coventry Cross of Nails (in German, ''Nagelkreuz von Coventry'') is a Christian cross made from

iron Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in f ...

nails, employed as a symbol of peace and reconciliation. The original version was made from three large medieval nails salvaged from the

Coventry Cathedral The Cathedral Church of Saint Michael, commonly known as Coventry Cathedral, is the seat of the Bishop of Coventry and the Diocese of Coventry within the Church of England. The cathedral is located in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The curren ...

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 The crucifixion and death of Jesus occurred in 1st-century Judea, most likely in AD 30 or AD 33. It is described in the four canonical gospels, referred to in the New Testament epistles, attested to by other ancient sources, and considere ...

, and the nails with which Christ was affixed to the cross according to some accounts.

In Coventry

Coventry Cathedral was severely damaged during the

Coventry Blitz The Coventry Blitz (blitz: from the German word ''Blitzkrieg'' meaning "lightning war" ) or Coventration of the city was a series of bombing raids that took place on the British city of Coventry. The city was bombed many times during the Seco ...

, 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 Warmington is a village and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon district of Warwickshire, England. It is located on the border with Oxfordshire, around 5 miles (8 km) northwest of Banbury. The civil parish had, according to the 2001 Cen ...

. 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 A Latin cross or ''crux immissa'' is a type of cross in which the vertical beam sticks above the crossbeam, with the three upper arms either equally long or with the vertical topmost arm shorter than the two horizontal arms, and always with a mu ...

, with one nail vertical and two head-to-tail as a cross-piece, and presented them to the

Bishop of Coventry The Bishop of Coventry is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Coventry in the Province of Canterbury. In the Middle Ages, the Bishop of Coventry was a title used by the bishops known today as the Bishop of Lichfield. The present ...

Mervyn Haigh Mervyn George Haigh (14 September 1887 – 20 May 1962) was an Anglican clergyman who served as the third bishop of the restored see of CoventryBishop Haigh An Influential Churchman (Obituaries), The Times Monday, 21 May 1962; p. 12; Issue 55396; ...

. The Cathedral's Provost

Richard Howard Richard Joseph Howard (October 13, 1929 – March 31, 2022; adopted as Richard Joseph Orwitz) was an American poet, literary critic, essayist, teacher, and translator. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and was a graduate of Columbia University, w ...

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 An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paganis ...

, with the nails now welded into place.

Elsewhere

In September 1947, Richard Howard visited

Kiel Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021). Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the J ...

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 Ecumenism (), also spelled oecumenism, is the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships among their churches and promote Christian unity. The adjec ...

"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 Dresden Frauenkirche (german: Dresdner Frauenkirche, , ''Church of Our Lady'') is a Lutheran church in Dresden, the capital of the German state of Saxony. Destroyed during the Allied firebombing of Dresden towards the end of World War II, ...

, and

Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church The Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church (in German: Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche, but mostly just known as Gedächtniskirche ) is a Protestant church affiliated with the Evangelical Church in Berlin, Brandenburg and Silesian Upper Lusatia, a regi ...

and

Chapel of Reconciliation The Chapel of Reconciliation (german: Kapelle der Versöhnung) is a place of worship in Berlin, Germany. It stands on the site of the old Church of Reconciliation ( de) (german: Versöhnungskirche), on Bernauer Strasse in the Mitte district. ...

(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 The Type 42 or ''Sheffield'' class, was a class of fourteen guided-missile destroyers that served in the Royal Navy.Marriott, Leo: ''Royal Navy Destroyers since 1945'', , Ian Allan Ltd, 1989 A further two ships of this class were built for and s ...

during the

Falklands War The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territorial de ...

, sunk with the ship and later salvaged by

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

divers. It was returned to Coventry Cathedral, kept by the next , a

Type 22 frigate The Type 22 frigate also known as the ''Broadsword'' class was a class of frigates built for the British Royal Navy. Fourteen were built in total, with production divided into three batches. Initially intended to be anti-submarine warfare fri ...

, from 1988 until she was decommissioned in 2002, and later presented to the

Type 45 destroyer The Type 45 destroyer, also known as the D or ''Daring'' class, is a Ship class, class of six guided-missile destroyers built for the United Kingdom's Royal Navy in the early 21st century. The class is primarily designed for Anti-aircraft warfa ...

, which is affiliated to Coventry.

Gallery

File:Air Raid Damage in the United Kingdom 1939-1945 H5603.jpg, Ruins of Coventry Cathedral on 16 November 1940 File:2015-03-19 Berlin Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche 10 anagoria.JPG, At the

, Berlin File:Berlin .Gendarmenmarkt .Deutscher Dom 005.jpg, At the

Neue Kirche, Berlin The New Church (german: Neue Kirche; colloquially german: Deutscher Dom, meaning "German Cathedral"), is located in Berlin on the Gendarmenmarkt across from French Church of Friedrichstadt (''French Cathedral''). Its parish comprised the norther ...

File:Antoniterkirche (Köln) Nagelkreuz von Coventry.JPG, At the , Cologne File:DD-Frauenkirche-Altar-2.jpg, At the Frauenkirche, Dresden File:Mellon Bay cross of nails - South Nave Bay H - National Cathedral - DC.JPG, At

Washington National Cathedral The Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in the City and Diocese of Washington, commonly known as Washington National Cathedral, is an American cathedral of the Episcopal Church. The cathedral is located in Washington, D.C., the cap ...

, Washington, D.C. File:The Charred Cross - Coventry Cathedral.jpg, Charred cross in

References

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
{{Christian crosses Christian crosses Artworks in metal Coventry Cathedral Nail (fastener)