COVENTRY’S iconic Charterhouse will be opening its doors to visitors on Saturday, April 1 following more than a decade of fund-raising and restoration work.
The Grade I listed building, which is the only Carthusian monastery in the country with surviving interiors, has undergone a £10million refurbishment and will open as a new visitor attraction.
The new visitor attraction will include interactive displays charting the site’s long history as well as the relandscaping of the inner precinct as a walled garden.
Charterhouse was originally founded by Richard II in 1385.
One of the three wall paintings that have been conserved at Charterhouse. s
It has taken many other forms over the years including as a garden growing exotic plants and was once a private house owned by Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester.
It was left to the people of Coventry by its last resident, Colonel William Wyley in 1940 as a museum and park, and the building was part of Coventry College until 2011.
Historic Coventry Trust was formed with the support of local residents to buy it and fulfil Colonel Wyley’s vision to open it up to the public.
The surrounding land forming part of ‘Charterhouse Fields’ previously under Coventry City Council’s control has since been reunited with the building in Trust ownership as part of the Heritage Park.
Ian Harrabin, founder and chair of Historic Coventry Trust, said: “This is a huge milestone for Historic Coventry Trust as we prepare to open Charterhouse to the public for the first time in over 630 years.
“It has been a long road of more than a decade since our earliest meetings with the Council and local residents to save one of Coventry’s most important buildings.
“What has been achieved with the support of so many is testament to the power of working together.
“Colonel William Wyley’s vision for his bequest was for the building to be a centre for arts and culture, for the benefit of all people, and we are confident that the restoration and the activities we have organised will more than do honour to his wishes.”
Tickets will go on sale on Wednesday, March 1.
Visit historiccoventrytrust.org.uk for more information.
