George Wagstaffe

George Wagstaffe (born 1939) is an English sculptor based in Coventry. He is predominantly known for his three iconic pieces of public art for the redevelopment of Coventry City Centre in the 1960s such as the Phoenix in Hertfort Street, Naiad in the Upper Precinct, and his replica of the Coventry Cross outside Holy Trinity Church, which was temporarily removed in 2019, before being reinstated in a more prominent location in 2023.

Early life

George Wagstaffe was born in 1939 He studied at Coventry College of Arts from 1955 to 1960. He also attended a few courses at Leicester College of Art and Slade School of Fine Art, University College, London. The Coventry City architect, Arthur Ling, saw the Naiad at ICA, and as a result in 1960 Coventry City Council commissioned a bronze copy of Naiad for Earl Street Courtyard, Coventry.

Coventry Cross

The modern replica of Coventry Cross was funded by "The Coventry Boy Foundation", and commissioned after 1971 when the plans were discussed by the Coventry Civic Amenities Society (now the Coventry Society) and the Church authorities. It stood next to Holy Trinity Church, 100 metres away from the original site of the old cross. The sculpture was mainly made from cast ferro-concrete, making it different from the old cross.

The replica had the height of 17.4 metres (57 feet), twenty niche with multiple figures and four diminishing sections. The top three sections were decorated with multiple statues. The bottom section had statues depicting kings such as Henry VI, John, Edward I, Henry II, Richard I and Henry IV The second row has figures of St. George, Edward III, St. John, St. Michael, Christ and Henry III, and boys holding pennons. The top section has figures of three saints - St. Christopher, St. James, and St. Peter, and three monks - a Benedictine, a Whitefriar and a Greyfriar with statues of a lion, bull, greyhound and dragon with pennons. The final lantern included 6 angels. The cross was neither painted nor gilded.

It was removed in 2019. It is now being rebuilt on Broadgate, not far from its original location.