The NISG Field Team at Charterhouse, Coventry
Field Notes compiled by Hildegard Brunel
Ed. Dr Stella Barrows
INTRODUCTION and OVERVIEW
The Charterhouse (also known as the Charterhouse Priory, or Coventry Charterhouse) Sounding Space lies near to the River Sherbourne that runs underneath the centre of the city.
It is one of only nine Carthusian monasteries in the country, and was founded in 1381. After the Dissolution of the Monasteries (1536-1541), the site was converted to a private house and latterly it was gifted to the people of Coventry by Colonel Wyley, the last private owner in 1941 as a centre for arts, culture and for the benefit of the people of Coventry. It is a beautiful site on grassed area next to a river.
There is an abundance of musical, industrial and conversational sonic ‘hot spots’ found on this site, such as the ‘singing’ of the ancient riverbed, possible horticultural exploits, ‘sonic sermons’ recorded from the nearby priory, singing of monks, repeated campanological bell patterns and the geological historical echoes of ancient battles.
MONASTERY
A few fragments remain of the Charterhouse Monastery which mostly date from the 15th century and consisting of a sandstone building that was probably the prior's house. Inside are medieval wall paintings of extraordinarily high quality.
The focus of Carthusian life is contemplation. To this end there was an emphasis on solitude and silence. Unless required by other duties, the Carthusian hermit, or choir monk would leave his cell daily only for three prayer services in the monastery chapel, including Mass, and to sing prayers, chants or hymns.
The Carthusian order was a silent order, although it seems that mass and song (as prayer) were allowed. The NISG believe that we have detected singing under the grounds and register it as Latin mass.
In its final form, in about 1500, the church at Coventry Charterhouse was a long thin rectangle, oriented east-west with a central bell tower and a large chapel on the North side. It’s possible that the bells the team of the NISG have been tracking with our audio technology (Ear Trumpets) are the sounds of these 16th Century bells. They could also be the bells from medieval St Anne’s Chapel (now ruined) just over the river which was leased to the Charterhouse, but which was confiscated and sold by the crown in 1546. An alternate theory is that they are bells of the much later Victorian Anglican Chapel of the famous London Road Cemetery (although we have yet to discern if there was ever a bell in the tower there), or even All Saints St Annes. [N.B. BEATRICE PLEASE CHECK THIS FACT, IF INDEED THERE ARE BELLS IN THESE LOCAL CHURCHES AND AUDIO RECORD FOR COMPARISON WHEN POSSIBLE S.B.]
Carthusian monasteries are distinctive because the monks lived in individual ‘cells’ comprising a two-story house set in a walled garden, all laid out round a cloister. Remains of these, and of the church, have been discovered through archaeological excavation at Charterhouse. When Henry VIII ordered The Dissolution of Monasteries in 1539, the church and many of the other buildings were demolished, but the Prior’s House and precinct walls were preserved and became a private house.
Sadly, at the time of the dissolution of the Monasteries the Chapel and other religious buildings were destroyed and used as building materials, but this disruption and violence to the earth could account of the significance of this site and the sheer abundance of sonic hot spots vis-a-vis the new theory of ‘stone tape’ imprinting (hauntological/ghost response) which is still very much at the fringes of sonic geology.
[HILDEGARD I RELISE YOU ARE HYPOTHESIZING BUT WE NEED TO DISCUSS THE INCLUSION OF THIS IN THE PUBLISHED NOTES – IS THIS USEFUL CONJECTURE WITH REGARD TO THE SUPERNATURAL? – S.B.)
PRIVATE OWNERSHIP
In the 1560’s Charterhouse was owned by Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester who may have used it to house some of Elizabeth I’s retinue when she visited nearby Kenilworth Castle.
In the 18th century horticulturist John Whittingham and his family rented the building and created a substantial nursery within the walled gardens. The archives in Coventry hold his original journal and from this fascinating source we know he was very successful, selling highly prized and exotic citrus trees to Warwick Castle and other local country houses.
Colonel William Wyley was the last owner of the house. He was an industrialist in the pharmaceutical trade and an influential man in the city. Col. Wyley bequeathed the house to the people of the city after his death in 1940. The Charterhouse was then used for a number of purposes by Coventry City Council, including that of a college, until 2010 when it was decided to sell on the open market. After significant protestations by the local community, Charterhouse Coventry Preservation Trust was formed and Charterhouse ownership was transferred to it in November 2011. In 2015, The Charterhouse Coventry Preservation Trust became the Historic Coventry Trust.
A contemporary view of #SS028
RIVER SHERBOURNE and LOST VILLAGE
Most of the Coventry area lies within the River Avon catchment. The other main rivers are the Sowe, the Sherbourne and the Blythe, while in the northeast, drainage is into the River Anker system. The River Sherbourne, canalised here, runs through the site, with the Charterhouse to the east. The river has created a shallow valley, running north to south. Alluvial landscapes are rich for the formation of sonic emissions and a short way up the river is the site of Blue Coats School, a specialist music college which might explain some of the richness of the music on this site.
The lost village of Bisseley (later Shortley) lay somewhere not far from where we site our field tent. In the 12th C. Bissley Mill was located about 100 yards upstream of the Sherbourne Bridge. Later known as the Charterhouse Mill it was only demolished in the 1930s. Part of the village may lie under the Charterhouse and its grounds. The NISG posit that there may well be sounds of this medieval settlement emanating from underneath the ground.
GEOLOGY
Broadly speaking, the bedrock lithologies in this area of Central Coventry are dominated by red-brown sandstones and mudstones (or clay), with most Carboniferous, Permian and Triassic formations consisting of interbedded sequences of these two lithologies. Geological reports suggest that the prevalent rock is the red-brown Carbonifereous Coventry Sandstone.
The geological sequence of solid rock formations known in the area range in age from Cambrian to Jurassic, while the superficial (drift) deposits are of Quaternary age. The whole area was glaciated in Quaternary times, and there are extensive outcrops of glacial drift. Post-glacial river terrace deposits and alluvium occur along the main river valleys which is possibly why we’re detecting some similar emanations to those in other parts of the United Kingdom (although every Sounding Space is distinct and different).
‘Sandstone’ lithologies vary widely from very strong, massive and cemented, to weakly-cemented, friable and flaggy, and may include several bands of conglomerate and breccia. Strong sandstones are those found within the Arden Sandstone, Keele Formation, Coventry Sandstone and other formations are frequently cemented by iron oxides, which breaks down on weathering (as is evidenced in the brickwork of the surrounding walls of the Monk’s Pond). The massive sandstones, in particular those found in the Coventry Sandstone, are often separated into large, discrete blocks by near vertical joints. These clay-filled joints might be an important feature when considering sonic permeability – is Coventry Sandstone particularly good for sonic porosity or is it such a rich sounding space because of the historic nature of this site? Or are they two part of a symbiotic feedback loop? [EXCELLENT WORK HERE HILDEGARD S.B.]
WHAT INCITED THIS ERUPTION EVENT?
Charterhouse will be opening once again to the public later in 2022.
The NISG team hypothesise that recent archaeological work and building construction on the Charterhouse undertaken in the environs of this sounding space have stimulated the conversational, melodic, ambient and proto-historic sonic phenomena through its (careful) disturbance of the underground strata. This proliferation of sonic ‘hot spots’ demonstrates that the Coventry CHARTERHOUSE is one in series of a deeply significant Heritage sites in the Coventry area which is of NATIONAL IMPORTANCE.
OTHER NOTES:
Blue Coat C of E School and Music College is situated very near to the site – could sounds emanating from the music practice rooms and have percolated into rock/alluvial drift and folding?