Church of Saint Thomas Becket Lewisham : Maundy Thursday Tenebrae

Figure 1
High altar and chancel wall of
Saint Thomas Becket's church during  Tenebrae.
Image : Latin Mass Society of Australia.

By courtesy of the Latin Mass Society of Australia * we are able to share a brief video presentation of the Office of Tenebrae for Maundy Thursday celebrated in the Church of Saint Thomas Becket, Lewisham (Archdiocese of Sydney).

The videographer was able to capture the newly-decorated walls of Saint Thomas', completed in December according to a design prepared by the Saint Bede Studio.  Further posts about Saint Thomas' church appear below.

The Guild of Saint Thomas the Martyr of Canterbury sang this Tenebrae office and are recorded singing a polyphonic setting of one of the Responsories.

Figure 2
Saint Thomas Becket's church during  Tenebrae.
Image : Latin Mass Society of Australia.

Click on the images for an enlarged view.

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* An incipient organisation.

The Old Church of Saint Thomas (1851) Restoration of a Landmark Sydney Church : 5

This rare image is reproduced from a glass plate negative in the collection of the NSW State Archives.  It was taken on the railway lines running eastward from Summer Hill towards Petersham in 1885 or 1886.

A section of the image was discovered to depict the old church of Saint Thomas of Canterbury (founded 1851) and the adjacent Catholic cemetery.  The cemetery, as shewn in this photograph, extended from the church fully to the righthand side of the image.  It is believed that almost 4000 burials took place in the cemetery, but all of the graves were relocated in the first 40 years of the twentieth century.

The image was digitally enhanced by The Saint Bede Studio.

Click on the image for an enlarged view.

Restoration of a Landmark Sydney Church : 3 The Old Church of S' Thomas (1851)

Lewisham's first Catholic church was built when the city of Sydney was less than 65 years old.  In 1851, when this church was commenced, Lewisham was known as Canterbury and was a village some seven kilometres south-west of the centre of Sydney. It is thought that this early church was given its name because of the village where it was built, but hallowed by the name of the great English mediaeval martyr, Saint Thomas Becket, who was murdered in his own Cathedral of Canterbury in 1170.  Subsequently, the district Canterbury became known as Petersham and Lewisham, all English names.

Figure 1.
This photograph depicts the chancel of old Saint
Thomas' church and the graves of a number of
Australian pioneering priests.
From this photograph we see a fine four-light tracery
window in the east wall of the sanctuary.
Part of the two-room sacristy is shewn on the left.

The old church was designated Saint Thomas of Canterbury when its foundation stone was laid in 1851 by the coadjutor bishop of Sydney, the Right Rev'd Charles Henry Davis OSB.  Thus far, research has failed to reveal the name of the local architect and builder of Saint Thomas' church, but it is reasonable to assume that the design was derived from plans prepared for the use of the Catholic Archbishop of Sydney either by Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin or by Charles Hansom, the renowned Gothic Revival English architects.

The laying of the foundation stone in May, 1851, was reported in the Sydney Catholic newspaper The Freeman's Journal :

On Monday last, the first stone of a new Church at Petersham was blessed by the Right Rev. the Bishop Coadjutor, assisted by the Clergy and Choir of the Cathedral. The Church is to be dedicated under the invocation of St. Thomas of Canterbury. It will be of simple but strictly correct architecture in the Early English style, with nave, chancel, sacristy, and, we believe, a tower, and spire.

The old church was not very large, but fine in its proportions and charming in its appearance.  All its Gothic detailing was "correct" and well built.  It comprised a nave and separate chancel, both made from stone, and roofed with slate.  It had an entrance porch on the northern side of its nave, in the usual position for small churches of this design.  A two-room sacristy with pitched-roofs projected from the southern wall of the chancel.  Evidently one of these rooms was also intended to provide accommodation for the resident or visiting priest.  No details have been uncovered of the appearance of the church's interior, but it is certain that the nave ceiling would have been of open-timber work, as all the pioneering Sydney churches were.

Figure 2.
This photograph of an old English
church shews a twin-gabled
bellcote similar to the one which
surmounted the western facade
of old Saint Thomas' church.

Although there is a reference in The Freeman's Journal report of the church having a tower and spire, these were not part of the completed building.  But the distinctive feature of the old church was a twin-gabled bellcote over the western facade.  Bellcotes were not an uncommon feature of nineteenth Australian churches, but very few had the twin-arrangement.  Two bells were hung in this bellcote.

Old Saint Thomas' did service as the parish church for only 37 years before it was replaced by a larger stone church built a very little distance away.  In those intervening years, however, a very large graveyard grew around the church containing the remains of around 4000 pioneering Catholics.  Australia's first Catholic bishop, John Bede Polding OSB, was laid to rest in this cemetery in 1877.  Many other pioneering Benedictine monks and secular priests were also buried in that ground, some of whom remain buried in the precinct.

Figure 3.

Old Saint Thomas of Canterbury's church, Lewisham, as it appeared in the late 1870s.

Surrounding the church is the cemetery in which burials commenced from around 1865.

Copyright of the Saint Bede Studio.

Over the intervening years, all but a handful of those gravestones have disappeared, along with the handsome structure of Old Saint Thomas'.  When it was demolished in 1939, its stonework was re-used to make substantial fences around the church ground which are everywhere in evidence today.

Figure 4.
The substantial stone wall in the foreground was built
from the stone walls of old Saint Thomas' church.
From the quantity of stone now forming such walls
around the churchyard, it is obvious that
the old church was taken down stone by stone.
Copyright The Saint Bede Studio

Figure 5.
Buried upside down in a concrete path behind the present church is a capstone from
one of the gables of the old church of Saint Thomas. The tracery, which can be seen 
in one face of the stone, was carved on each of the four sides.
This stone would have sat at the apex of the eastern gable of the nave
or of the chancel, and can be viewed in situ at Figure 1.
Copyright The Saint Bede Studio

Restoration of a Landmark Sydney Church : 2Christmas Update

Figure 1.
Medallion figuring
Saint Thomas Becket.
Image :
Mulholland Restoration
and Decorating.

Today is the Feast of the great English mediaeval bishop, Thomas Becket, who was martyred for his defence of the Church in 1170 within his own Cathedral of Canterbury by knights of King Henry II.

To commemorate this Feast, we wish to continue our description of restoration work on a church in Sydney (Australia) which is under the patronage of Saint Thomas.  The church of Saint Thomas of Canterbury (also known as Saint Thomas Becket's) was erected in 1887 in the Sydney suburb of Lewisham. Because of its proximity to the railway line which runs into the centre of Sydney from the North, the splendid Gothic Revival tower of the church is seen by thousands of people each day as they pass by in the city's trains.

Earlier this year, the Saint Bede Studio was approached to be a consultant on the restoration of the interior of this church.  Walking into Saint Thomas' for the first time on Easter Monday 2017, the impression was of an Old Lady of great dignity, largely intact, but of greatly faded glory, cluttered by successive generations of alterations and accretions. It was a great challenge to devise a near-complete interior re-ornamentation within the constraints of available time.

Figure 2.
The splendid tower of Saint Thomas' seen through
the wiring and gantries of the railway.

The Studio's commission was to devise a colour scheme for the repainting of the church, to devise an ornamental scheme for the Chancel and its adjacent chapels and to advise on heritage restoration generally.  In this work, we received much practical support from the pastor, Father Samuel Lynch,  parish assistant Mr Stephen Smith and artisans Mulholland Restoration and Decorating of Melbourne.

Figure 3.
A photograph taken in Saint Thomas' before the
reinstatement of the pews.
This illustrates the newly-polished timber floors, the new
central aisle of tessellated pavement
and the new colour scheme for the walls of the building.

On this blog, we will be presenting a series of posts detailing the philosophy underpinning the Studio's work at Saint Thomas' as well as the stages of the buildings development and restoration.

For today, however, just a few photographs of the interior work, as an appetiser.  The quatrefoil shewn in Figure 1 was designed by the Studio as part of the ornament of the East wall of the chancel of Saint Thomas.  It is a stylised rendering of the initials  STB  Saint Thomas Becket, the  T  being rendered as a sword in order to depict the manner of Saint Thomas' martrydom.

Figure 4.
Detail of the stencilwerk designed by the Studio
for the east wall of the chancel.
The photograph was taken before the completion
of the decoration.
Image : Mulholland Restoration and Decorating.

Restoration of a Landmark Sydney Church

Tower and northern transept
of Saint Thomas' church, Lewisham NSW.

Earlier this year, the Saint Bede Studio was approached to be a consultant on the restoration of the interior of a famous church in Sydney NSW.

The church of Saint Thomas of Canterbury (also known as Saint Thomas Becket's) was founded in 1887 in the Sydney suburb of Lewisham. Because of its proximity to the railway line which runs into the centre of Sydney from the North, the splendid Gothic Revival tower of the church is seen by thousands of people each day as they pass by in the city's trains.

This is the first in a series of posts about the restoration of S' Thomas', to which the Saint Bede Studio has been pleased to contribute.

Saint James' Church A Suburban Melbourne House of God

The Church of Saint James in Brighton, formerly known as Gardenvale, and before that Elsternwick is one of many Gothic Revival churches of the Archdiocese of Melbourne (Australia). For Easter Day, we are writing this post about Saint James', because its parishioners cannot fully share the joy of Christ's Resurrection today. Their church was gutted by fire on Monday of Holy Week, the victim of an arsonist.

Saint James' church Brighton:
North transept, nave and belltower.

Saint James' church, a brick cruciform building with stone facing, was commenced in 1891, but enlarged in 1924 with the addition of transepts, apse and sacristies complementing the original design of Edgar Henderson.

In most respects, Saint James' church was not an exceptional building, but its great glory was the magnificent decorative mosaic work on the walls of the apse and adjacent chapels. This decoration, in a style known as opus sectile, was completed in 1939.

Of all this beauty, nothing now remains. The interior of the church was completely destroyed this week past and parts of its brick and stone walls are imperilled. This is the first of a series of posts on Saint James, aimed at keeping this tragedy in people's minds and in the hope that this House of God might - to some extent at least - be rebuilt. In the meantime, let us pray for its sorrowful parishioners.

Send a message of support to the Parish here.

Charming interior of Saint James church.

A section of the magnificent decorative work
of the apse and Sacred Heart Chapel.

Saint James' ablaze early on the morning of Monday 30th March:
the view on the south side of the church.

Dramatic view of the blaze, looking through 
the tracery window of the southern transept.
Image: The Herald-Sun.

Fireman bringing the devastating blaze under control.
Image : The Herald-Sun.

Charred ruin of the transepts.

Church Towers : 1

A muscular tower:
Saint Michael and All Angels, Bothwell Tasmania.

It may be argued convincingly that the most identifying feature of a church is its tower. And even though this feature signifies firstly that the building is the House of God, towers remain a potent symbol of community life. There is such a variety in the design of church towers as will afford us many posts on the subject.

Church towers originated in ninth century Italy, but obviously the tower as a fortification existed long before they became part of church architecture. Nevertheless, many communities came to appreciate the defensive advantages of having a tower in their midst and indeed the term belfry is of teutonic origin and means a defensive place of shelter. In most places, however, mediaeval church towers were simply intended to accommodate bells, an altogether different meaning of the word belfry. In Italy the term is campanile.

The tower under discussion in this post is of the Anglican Church of Saint Michael and All Angels in Bothwell Tasmania (Australia) and looks very much like a defensive place of shelter. This church was built in stages between 1887 and 1923 to the design of Tasmanian architect Alexander North a Gothic Revivalist of no mean ability. The tower of the church, which abuts the chancel, was the last to be built and is distinctive for its robust design.

Although in that muscular vein of the later period of the 19th century Gothic Revival, this squat and robust tower is at least reminiscent of Norman architecture. Four square turrets support this tower and each turret is flanked by two unstepped buttresses, creating clean lines and a keep-like appearance. The pyramid-shaped terminations to these turrets enhance this castle-like feeling (although those four celtic crosses atop are perhaps a little "twee"). No tracery or crenellations break-up the solid parapet of this tower. The eight louvred openings clearly indicate the true purpose of this tower.

The Church of Saint Michael and All Angels, Bothwell, Tasmania.
The tower and porch of this church are the most successful features of its exterior.

The church seen from the south east.
A semi-circular turret, which serves as the stairwell to the tower,
is well-placed against the east wall
and also serves as the exterior entrance to the vestry.

Do you know?

This early 20th century postcard shews a fine Gothic church in either France or Belgium. Its name and place are unknown. It is unclear as to whether it is a mediaeval church or of the 19th century Gothic Revival, but the presence of a Confessio immediately beneath chancel suggests something mediaeval (at least in part).

Despite the ample proportions of the building, the chancel is relatively small and there are no quire stalls or other furnishings to suggest this is a Cathedral-church. There is, however, a very fine civory or ciborium above the High altar.

Suggestions would be welcomed :

stbede62@gmail.com

The Chancel Screen : 1 Choirscreen of Hereford Cathedral

Gothic Revival Splendour :
The choirscreen of Hereford Cathedral (1862), shewn in an early 20th century postcard.

Although not a feature of primitive Christian liturgy, differing forms of screen nevertheless can be traced to the early centuries of the Church. In the East, these forms developed into the iconostasis. In the West, a form of screen which separated the chancel (that place which contains the schola and the altar) from the nave of a church. These have variously been known as Rood Screen, Pulpitum or Choirscreen, but each of these term describes a different expression of a structure which performs much the same function. There will be posts on each of these in the future in these columns.

This post, however, illustrates a wonderful screen of the English Gothic Revival in the Anglican Cathedral of Hereford (UK). It embodies a second stage in the Gothic Revival, in which architects more confidently experimented with the elements of Gothic, rather than studied reproductions of particular buildings. Sadly, this marvellous composition is no longer in place in the Cathedral, but is now housed, fully-restored, in the Victoria and Albert Museum (London). The following description of the screen is adapted from the website of the Museum.

The great choir screen made for Hereford Cathedral is one of the monuments of High Victorian art and a masterpiece in the Gothic Revival style. It was designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott, a leading Victorian architect, and made by the Coventry metalworking firm of Francis Skidmore.

A 19th century photograph of the Hereford choirscreen.
From the side, its three-dimensional design
can readily be appreciated.

Scott's most impressive screens were largely of iron, as at the [Anglican] cathedrals of Lichfield (1861), Hereford (1862) and Salisbury (1869-72), and all were constructed by Skidmore of Coventry. Medieval screens were not made of iron - then far too costly - but always of stone or wood. Scott regarded iron as an important "modern" material and used it extensively, both structurally and decoratively.

Before it was installed in Hereford Cathedral, the screen was one of the major exhibits at the 1862 International Exhibition in London, and was praised the Illustrated London News as "the grandest, most triumphant achievement of modern architectural art". It helped to win for its maker a special medal for manufacturers in metal, brass and copper, for progress, elegance of design and excellent workmanship.

The screen is 10.5 m high and 11 m long and weighs over 8 tons (around 1000 kilos). Its basic structure of timber and cast iron is embellished with wrought iron, burnished brass and copper. Much of the copper and ironwork is painted in a wide range of colours. The arches and columns are decorated with polished quartz and panels of mosaic.

Passion flowers in many forms are dominant motifs on the screen. They symbolise the suffering of Christ upon the Cross (the Passion). The bearded figure of Christ is the focal point of the screen. On either side, angels play timbrel and harp. The figures look as though they are made from cast bronze but are in fact electroformed copper, a revolutionary new technique at the time and much cheaper than casting bronze. Electroforming is the process of using electricity to cast a metal object. It is done through the electrical deposition of metal upon a plaster pattern or model, while it is immersed in a suitable liquid.

Beautifully restored, but standing somewhat forlornly in its own room in the
Victoria and Albert Museum.
Although completely lacking the effect of its context in a large church,
nevertheless the magnificent detail of this screen can be studied
in the secure environment of the museum.

The central axis of the Hereford choirscreen,
shewing our Saviour in Glory flanked by the angels.

The Genius of AWN Pugin 2 : The Gate of Heaven

Entrance to the Blessed Sacrament Chapel of
Saint Giles' Church, Cheadle UK.

PORTA CAELI (the Gate of Heaven) ! These were the words uttered by John Henry Newman when he entered the Blessed Sacrament Chapel of Saint Giles' Church Cheadle (Staffordshire UK). The Cheadle Church was the creation which gave its architect - AWN Pugin  - the most satisfaction.

Reserving a fuller study of this glorious Gothic Revival church for another occasion, here we simply wish to comment on its Blessed Sacrament Chapel.

In the first instance, it is somewhat rare - even unusual - to find a parish church from the 19th century with a special chapel for the Reservation of the Blessed Eucharist. In most churches - and even many Cathedrals - the Blessed Sacrament was reserved in a tabernacle on the High altar. The former Ceremonial of Bishops did expect that a Blessed Sacrament Chapel would exist in Cathedral Churches, but even so this was widely ignored, as is illustrated by many Cathedrals in the "Old" and "New" worlds right up until the 1960's.

Pugin's desire to build a church in all respects mediaeval and correct liturgically, of course, motivated his design for a distinct Blessed Sacrament Chapel at Cheadle.  But how exactly he managed to convince Ecclesiastical authorities of the desirability of such a plan is unknown to this writer.

The altar and tabernacle of the Blessed Sacrament Chapel.
On the right can be seen a liturgical wash-basin called piscina in which
the priest may purify his fingers having distributed Holy Communion.

The decorations of the Cheadle Chapel are lavish and inspire awe : precisely the effect that was intended. We find a gate leading from the southern aisle of the church into the Chapel, made of brass and figured with motifs of the Blessed Eucharist. The arch leading into the chapel is magnificently stencilled on its every face and chamfer.

In these times, the Chapel is lit brightly with electrical lamps. But Pugin intended to create a mysterious corner where the Faithful may not enter and which glowed only with the light of candles and the filtered light of stained glass windows.

The walls of the Chapel are all stencilled, its ceiling vaulted in stone, its floor paved with magnificent geometric tiles of terracotta red, gold and blue.

The Altar of this chapel is equally beautiful, proportionate and fitting. This was not an altar on which Mass was intended to be celebrated and we note that although the Church was consecrated in September 1846, this altar was not consecrated. There is no predella or altar platform elevating the height of this altar above the pavement : a requirement for altars of the Roman Rite. No this altar was purely intended for the Reservation of the Most Holy Eucharist.

The altar has no gradines or little steps upon its table, but only the Tabernacle, being a box-like form, enriched with enamelled metalwork. A retable, which is the full width of the reveals of the stained glass window above it, is formed from magnificent encaustic tiles, arranged geometrically. It is to be well noted that there are no figures of the saints or the angels in this retable.

The face of this alabaster Altar, however, is beautifully enriched with five niches containing images of the Seraphim. We find the Seraphim also depicted in the three-light stained glass window above the altar.

Click on the images for an enlarged view.

Updated 29th January.

Another view of the Chapel entrance.
Photograph of Father Lawrence Lew OP.

Catholic Cathedrals of North America : 1 Saint Patrick's New York

Nestled amidst the bustle of Manhattan, Saint Patrick's Cathedral.

The North American continent has a wonderful richness and variety of Cathedral churches, which we hope to explore in coming months in these columns. For this post, we turn our attention to (arguably) the most famous and well-loved of the Cathedrals of the United States : Saint Patrick's Cathedral in New York City.

This masterpiece of the Gothic Revival was designed by the American architect James Renwick from 1853, work commencing on the building in 1858. Renwick had toured Europe to inspect its great Cathedrals before commencing his designs and, as a result, Saint Patrick's has much in common in style and detail with French Cathedrals and with the great Cathedral of Cologne.

We find a certain similarity of composition in the facade of the Cathedral of Rheims and Saint Patrick's New York. This was even more evident before the spires were completed on the New York Cathedral in 1888 (see photographs below). Saint Patrick's is not a large Cathedral by any standard, but its small size is off-set by the soaring appearance of its facade and its marvellous interior.

Splendidly composed facade of Saint Patrick's Cathedral.
Attentuated portals are enclosed by the massive buttresses.

Rheims Cathedral, France.

The unfinished Cathedral,
shewing similarities to Rheims Cathedral
but in a more compact form.

The construction of Saint Patrick's Cathedral was interrupted by the American Civil War (1861 - 1865) and in the wake of that terrible conflict, the Cathedral was not able to be completed as planned. 

An artisan working on the nave ceiling of the Cathedral.
The photograph shews clearly that the entire structure is formed
from plaster, neatly painted to resemble masonry.

The most significant change is that the ceiling, which was intended to be entirely stone vaulting, was instead made in the lath and plaster technique in imitation of stone (see adjacent photograph). Stone vaulting could not be afforded. Consequently, Renwick's design for exteriors walls supporting a stone vault with flying buttresses was modified and remains today in a curiously unfinished state.

South-west aspect of the Cathedral shewing Renwick's
unfinished flying buttresses along the aisle walls.

After the Cathedral's completion in 1888, the only addition to the building was the construction of a Lady Chapel (1900 - 1908 ) emerging from the apse. It follows in most every respect the character of the apse from which it extends.

The East end of the Cathedral, shewing the Lady Chapel
and buildings associated with the Cathedral.

One of the consequences of the Cathedral now being surrounded with the skyscrapers of Manhattan, as could never have been foreseen in the 1850's, is that the interior is rather dark. Furthermore, successive generations have added stained glass to the clerestory windows. And so, we turn to a marvellous old photograph from 1907 to illustrate this Cathedral's splendid interior.

Marvellous 1907 photograph shewing the interior of the Cathedral
bathed in natural light.
The grandeur and wonderful proportions of the building
are well-shewn in this photograph.

This photographs shews the inventive treatment of the southern wall of the transept.

Bird's eye view of the chancel.

We turn now to liturgical arrangements of the Cathedral. The adjacent photograph, taken from high in the vault during recent restoration work, shews the large area of the chancel. A large area of tiled pavement separates the two sides of the choirstalls and leads to the steps of the High Altar, which rests beneath a civory or altar canopy. It will be noticed that this chancel is very spacious.

Beyond the arches of the apse is an ambulatory and beyond this can be seen the Lady Chapel. The chancel is separated from the ambulatory by timber parcloses.

But this is not the original arrangement of the Cathedral's sanctuary. The photograph below shews something altogether different. Prior to 1942, the High altar was a composition in the High Victorian style. It gleamed white and because it was very lofty and communicated most of the width of the chancel, was a real focal point for the Cathedral.

Although from the perspective of liturgical ideals crowning the High altar with a civory is usually desirable and admirable, in the instance of Saint Patrick's Cathedral, the change was not successful visually.

The civory - a composition in a free Gothic style - was purposely left very open, so that it would be possible to see through it to the apse beyond. The design of this civory is not sufficiently three-dimensional for it to have an adequate visual impact in this large space.

Photograph taken during a wedding in the Cathedral in the 1930's.
The old High altar visually dominates, drawing all eyes towards it.

 

The Cathedral photographed in the 1960's.

An early photograph of the 1942 High altar and civory.
A dossal was suspended behind the altar to assist focus.

Another view of the civory.

This view from the rear of the civory
shews the entrance to the Cathedral Crypt.

A beautiful view of the Cathedral taken at the beginning of the 20th century.

The Genius of AWN Pugin : 1 Saint Edmund's College Ware (UK)

In 1812 was born one of the most important figures in the history of architecture and the decorative arts: Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin.  

The son of the French émigré Augustus Charles Pugin (who himself was an architectural draughtsman and topographical watercolourist), AWN Pugin is arguably the greatest British architect, designer and writer of the nineteenth century.  Pugin was responsible for an enormous quantity of buildings, and also for countless beautiful designs for tiles, sacred vestments and paraments, metalwork, furniture, wallpaper, stained glass and ceramics.  Some of his best known work includes the magnificent interiors of the Houses of Parliament, the church of St Giles, Cheadle, in Staffordshire, and his own house, The Grange, in Ramsgate (Kent), together with the nearby church of Saint Augustine, which he built and paid for himself and where he is buried.

Through his buildings, designs, and particularly his forceful and witty writings, such as Contrasts (1836) and the True Principles of Pointed or Christian Architecture (1841), he made people think in a new way about what architecture was.   Pugin taught that only a caring and "good" society can raise buildings that are truly honest and beautiful.  For him, Gothic architecture was the greatest style of building, and therefore the Middle Ages, the period in which these buildings were conceived, must be the closest man can get to a perfect society.  Pugin's beliefs and ideas have implications beyond his own immediate preferences, and so for many reasons he was, and is, therefore, hugely influential, both on other architects and designers of the Gothic Revival throughout the Victorian era and also on many subsequent architects, theorists and writers.

The above paragraphs were adapted from the website of The Pugin Society.

Shrine of Saint Edmund in the Collegiate Chapel at Ware (UK)
Image : http://www.newliturgicalmovement.org/2013/09/adeste-fideles-and-other-treasures-at.html#.VKnUomSUeds

There are so many architectural and liturgical jewels which Pugin created in his short life, but in this post we wish to discuss a detail to reveal the layers of Pugin's creativity, rather than give an overview of his achievements. We look at the photograph included above of a shrine in the Chapel of Saint Edmund's College, Ware, one of the last buildings designed by Pugin and completed in 1853, after his death.

This is a shrine to the patron of the College, Saint Edmund. An elaborate reliquary is the centrepiece of the shrine, situated in a reredos above the altar. Most obviously, this shrine is decorated in a beautiful and tasteful manner. The stonework of the reredos is enhanced with polychrome work and gilding, down to the finest detail. In several places, in the script Pugin favoured, is the letter " E " for Saint Edmund and around the base of the reliquary, with its alternating panels of blue and red, Saint Edmund is honoured with the words : Hail, flower and comeliness of England. The angels, which adorn eight of the nine carved recesses are all treated differently and have so much more vigour that the statues of the baroque (we will pass over without mention the genre of plaster statue).

But the shrine is also a study in ingenuity. In a shallow alcove, set-off from the main part of the chapel, the reredos sits into a large arch : it does not protrude from the wall. It might be a window behind that, but, of course it isn't. Pugin has skilfully used different forms of arch to create a reredos in this space, giving the impression that it was an afterthought, but an ingenious one, filling a blank area in the chapel. A further master touch was the use of curtaining of rich dark red velvet in the central recesses of the reredos. It gives the impression of the curtained stage of a theatre. The arches here are distinctly different and free of the structural ornament which the other arches have; their shallow slope becomes the foundation from which further archwork springs. But their form, together with the curtains, also gives the impression of a substantial space behind the shrine, although in fact there is none at all.

The curtains, of course, may be drawn across the Reliquary, if desired, during the celebration of Mass or during Passiontide.

This Shrine is a small example of the many wonders which flowed from the creative mind of AWN Pugin.

Below are some other links descriptive of Pugin and his work:

http://pugin.com/

http://www.puginfoundation.org/

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/feb/24/pugin-gothic-architect 

A Little Charmer

Saint Mary's Anglican Church, Moorcourt, Herefordshire UK. c. 1865

Frequently, through the riches of the worldwide web, beautiful images of churches are to be found. Some are grand, some inspiring and some are ... charming.

This photograph of Saint Mary's Anglican Church in Moorcourt, Herefordshire (UK) was found here. Built around 1865, this small timber-framed church had its exterior walls clad in corrugated iron, which is presently painted a deep green. It has a small, separate chancel, which is not quite visible in this photograph.

Simple it might be, but the proportions and detailing are all very good. Detailing is all carried out in imitation of the stonework of her grander cousins.

Church-building is an expensive and daunting concern. Although this is an Anglican church, we wished to include it here to illustrate that beauty can be created on a small-scale, even with modest materials. But good proportion and detail are everything.