Photographers in Coventry

The ruins

The old cathedral's walls and window tracery stand without a roof, so the space fills with open, even light, and the empty windows frame sky or the new cathedral behind. The red sandstone warms skin tones in late-afternoon sun. The charred cross and the words "Father Forgive" at the east end are a memorial, so photographers usually treat that end respectfully and work along the nave and beneath the tower.

The new cathedral

Spence's cathedral faces the ruins with a great west screen of engraved glass by John Hutton, in which the ruins are reflected by day. Beside the steps, Epstein's St Michael's Victory over the Devil stands out against the wall. Inside are Graham Sutherland's tapestry and John Piper's baptistery window, although interior photography is a question for the cathedral.

Old streets

Spon Street's timber-framed buildings, many moved there from elsewhere in the city after the war, give a Tudor-looking backdrop a short walk away. Priory Row, between Holy Trinity and the cathedrals, has Georgian fronts and the excavated remains of the medieval priory.

Green space

War Memorial Park, south of the centre, has open lawns and mature trees for families. Coombe Abbey Country Park, east of the city, adds lakes, woodland and the old abbey buildings, now a hotel.

Coventry station has direct trains from London Euston and Birmingham New Street. The cathedral quarter is a walk of roughly 15 minutes north through the city centre, and Spon Street and Priory Row are close by. War Memorial Park is also walkable from the station.

The centre sits inside a ring road with multi-storey car parks at most junctions, so driving in is straightforward outside peak times. Coombe Abbey Country Park, east of the city, is easiest by car and has its own pay car park. Warwick and Kenilworth are a short drive south if you want to add a second location.

The ruins are open to the sky, so the light changes quickly on a showery day, but the porch canopy linking the two cathedrals gives shelter right next to them. Weekday mornings are quietest. The ruins host concerts, services and events through the year, and November brings remembrance services marking the Blitz; check the cathedral's calendar before fixing a date.

Coventry Cathedral is a working church with its own rules for professional photography in the ruins and inside. Your photographer will confirm what applies and whether permission or a fee is needed.

The centre is compact, so two or three settings, such as the ruins, Priory Row and Spon Street, fit comfortably into a single session.

Coventry sessions are quoted from our standard starting prices, for example a solo portrait photoshoot from £200 or a couple photoshoot from £250. If the cathedral charges for professional photography, or you add Coombe Abbey as a second location, those fees and the extra travel are quoted separately so you can decide before booking.