City residents raised £10m to prevent the Carthusian monastery being sold for commercial use
It was 11 years ago when Ian Harrabin, a property developer from Coventry, saw the city’s Charterhouse had been put up for sale. Dating from 1381, it is the only Carthusian monastery in the country with surviving interiors, and had been used as college classrooms for decades.
“It was almost unknown in the city. It was gifted to the people of Coventry in 1940, but the general public didn’t know about it,” said Harrabin. “There is something very special about the place, the painting has been described as the best piece of medieval art outside of Westminster Abbey.”
