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Frederick Herbert Mansford, F.R.I.B.A. (1871–1946)
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Landau, Dorothea
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The Ecclesiological Society
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Mansford, Frederick Herbert (1871–1946)
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Text
Frederick H erbert M.ansford
Citizen
and Architect of London
Selections from his papers
THE
E C C L E S IO L O G IC A L
S O C IE T Y T R A N S A C T IO N S
V olum e 1 (N ew Series), Part 5
1947
P rice:
Ten Shillings and Sixpence
920
MAN
Objects:—T o Study the Science of
W orship in all its Aspects, including
Architecture, Sculpture, Painting, W ood
work, Metalwork, Mosaics and Stained
Glass, Ceremonial, Liturgies and Music,
and to preserve our heritage of Records
and Remains.
�qiosz
sysk-ir
�T R A N S A C T I O N S — Vol. 1 (N ew Series)— Part 5
&&o lo g ic £^
Patrons : T he M ost Rev. and Right Hon. G e o f f r e y F i s h e r , d . d ., Lord
Archbishop o f Canterbury; T he M ost Rev. and Right Hon. C y r i l G a r b e t t ,
d . d ., Lord Archbishop o f York; and T he Right Hon. T he Viscount E s h e r ,
M .B .E ., H O N . A .R .I.B .A .
President : T he Very Rev. W . R. M a t t h e w s , k . c . v . o . , m . a . , d . d . , d . l i t . , Dean
o f St. Paul’s.
Vice-Presidents : Canon S. A . A l e x a n d e r , c . v . o ., c . m . g ., m . a ., h o n . a . r . i . b . a . ;
A l f r e d C . B o s s o m , Esq., J . P . , m . p ., f . r . i . b . a . ; J . N i n i a n C o m p e r , Esq.;
T he Very Rev. D . H. S. C r a n a g e , m . a ., l i t t . d ., f . s . a ., h o n . a . r . i . b . a .;
W . A . F o r s y t h , Esq., f . r . i . b . a . ; H . S . G o o d h a r t - R e n d e l , Esq., m u s . b a c .,
p p . r . i . b . a . ; M iss R o s e G r a h a m , c . b . e ., d . l i t t ., f . s . a . ; F r e d e r i c k R. H i o r n s ,
Esq., f . s . a ., f . r . i . b . a ., m . t . p . i . ; Sir C h a r l e s A. N i c h o l s o n , Bart, m . a ., f . r . i . b . a . ;
Professor A. E. R i c h a r d s o n , m . a ., r . a ., f . s . a ., f . r . i . b . a . ; Sir G i l e s G i l b e r t
S c o t t , o . m ., h o n . d . c . l ., h o n . l l . d ., r . a ., p p . r . i . b . a , ; J o h n N . S u m m e r s o n ,
Esq., b . a . ( a r c h .) , f . s . a ., a . r . i . b . a . ; Professor A. H a m i l t o n T h o m p s o n ,
C .B .E ., M .A ., H O N . D .L I T T , H O N . L L .D ., F .B .A ., F .S .A ., H O N . A .R .I.B .A .; Professor
C l e m e n t C . J. W e b b , m . a ., d . l i t t ., f . b . a ., h o n . l l . d ., h o n . d . d .
F.
H.
By D
M A N SFO RD
orothea
L andau
Council :
Chairman : D. C h i s h o l m S i m p s o n , E sq.* ; Mrs. E. T . B a i l e y ; T. A. C o y s h , E sq .;
the Rev. T. H. C r o x a l l , m . a . , b . d . , b . m u s . * ; J. D u d l e y D a y m o n d , Esq.;
F. D a r w i n F o x , Esq.;
R o b e r t F r a n c i s , Esq.;
M r s . A . R.H a t l e y ,
b . s c ., f . r . g . s . * ; F. H e n l e y , Esq.; W . E. H u g g i n s , Esq.; H. L. M a n n , Esq.*;
and the Rev. H. M a t t i n s o n , m . a . ; with the undermentioned Officers
ex officio.
Hon. Secretary : F r e d k . R. B u d g e y , Esq.*
Hon. Director o f Meetings : W . W . B e g l e y , Esq.,f . r . h i s t . s . , l . r . i . b . a . *
Hon. Treasurer : A. J. H a t l e y , Esq., m . a . *
Hon. Editor : T h o s . F. G a r n i s h , Esq.*
(* Members o f Editorial Committee).
Society’s Address: W alcot House, 139 Kennington Road, Lambeth, London, S .E .ll.
247
�CONTENTS
rage
F R O N T IS P IE C E
P ortrait by M iss D . L andau
F O R E W O R D ...................................................................................
251
A P P R E C IA T IO N
......................................................................
253
P O E M — " Ely
......................................................................
255
......................................................................
256
B E L L S A N D B E L L - R I N G E R S ...........................................
257
C IT Y S W O R D -R E S T S
.........................................................
258
JO H N S T O W
......................................................................
258
IN IG O JO N E S
......................................................................
259
”
CHURCHYARDS
W R E N 'S C IT Y C H U R C H E S
...........................................
260
B O M B E D C H U R C H E S IN L O N D O N ..............................
262
N IN E T E E N T H C E N T U R Y A R C H IT E C T U R E
265
T W E N T IE T H
269
C E N T U R Y A R C H IT E C T U R E
P R E -W R E N C H U R C H E S —
St. Bartholom ew the G reat; St. Olave, H a rt Street
St. H elen, B ishopsgate; St. K atharine C ree ...
St. A ndrew U ndershaft ...
W REN CHURCHES
........................................................
(a) G othic— St. M ary A lderm ary
( b) H y b rid — St. M ichael, C ornhill
(c) Early C ontrasts— St. Benet, Paul's W harf, and
St. Law rence Jew ry
(d) D om es— St. M ary-at-H ill, Billingsgate; St. Stephen,
W albrook; St. M ildred, Bread Street; St. M ary
A bchurch
249
272
273
274
275
276
276
277
278
�Page
W R E N C H U R C H E S — Continued
(e) T ow ers and Spires — St. M artin, L udgate ;
St. M argaret P atten s; St. D u n stan -in -th eE ast; St. Bride, F leet S t r e e t ..............................
( / ) L ate C ontrasts — St. M argaret, L o th b u ry ;
St. A ndrew by th e W ard ro b e
C oncluding note
280
P O S T S C R IP T T O W R E N — St. M ary W oolnoth, L om bard
Street
284
ST .
THE
282
283
G E O R G E ’S C H U R C H , H A N O V E R S Q U A R E —
early su b u rb an ...
...
...
................
285
P A R IS H C H U R C H O F ST . J O H N , H A M P
S T E A D — rural and later su b u rb an
..............................
FOREWORD
286
T H E E C C L E S IO L O G IC A L S O C IE T Y —
L ist o f Officers ...
Sum m ary o f R eports, 1943-46 ...
H IS Part, N o. V, Vol. 1, N ew Series, o f the T ransactions of
the Ecclesiological Society, is issued as a m em orial n u m ber to
the late Frederick H erb ert M ansford, for m any years a valued
m em ber o f the Society. It has been com piled from his MSS., o f
w hich he left an extensive collection, and consists of notes and
com m ents prepared by him from tim e to tim e for talks and lectures
to the Society and to his students.
T
247
289
T h e selection and arrangem ent of these notes for publication
have been devotedly undertaken by M rs. A. R. H atley, B.Sc.,
F .R .G .S ., H on. Secretary of the Society’s E ditorial and Publications
C om m ittee, w hose task was by no m eans a light and easy one, and
to w hom the C ouncil, on behaff of the Society, wishes to express
its cordial appreciation and thanks.
T h e Council desires also to acknowledge its indebtedness to
the M ansford fam ily for generous contributions tow ards the cost
o f p rin tin g and publishing this m em orial num ber, and to th e
friend w ho has provided the block for the frontispiece.
A s in the case of other parts, the C ouncil m ust not be assum ed
as subscribing to every statem ent or opinion contained in the
Society’s T ransactions; all such expressions are m ade on th e
responsibility o f the authors o f the several contributions.
-
�FREDERICK HERBERT MANSFORD
F.R .I.B .A . (1871-1946)
U R Society is proud to recall am ong its past m em bers m any
who have given loyal service to its work in scholarship and
tim e and w ith these, M r. F. H . M ansford, the subject of
this m em oir, m ust take a high place.
A t the beginning of his last illness he w rote, in reply to a letter
of sym pathy from the C ouncil : " As I lay in bed I reflected on
m y early association w ith the Society. I m ust have been about
tw enty-five w hen I first addressed the m em bers in the old C hapter
House. C anon Lewis G ilbertson was th en C hairm an b u t I do not
rem em ber if he presided. T h e subject was ' N otes on C ity
C h u rch es,’ w hich had not then been so carefully researched. T h e
walls o f the room w ere panelled high in oak and it was excellent for
sound. T h ere was a very large cat curled up on an oak table in the
hall and he received, b u t I m ight say ignored, the strokes from various
m em bers before ascending. T h e walls of the landing w ere hung
w ith large fram ed schem es for cathedral decoration, some by a
pupil of A lfred Stevens, whose nam e escapes m e at the m om ent."
A ctually the Rev. E. H oskins was the C hairm an and the date of
the m eeting, 16th January, 1901, so he was rath er m ore th an tw entyfive at the tim e. A n d so, for nearly fifty years, he gave his services,
w ithout stint or question, reading m any Papers and conducting
a long series of visits, only giving up a year or so before his death
under stress o f ill-health.
T h e care taken in th e preparation o f his talks is evidenced
by th e fact th at this m em oir is com piled from N otes selected from
the large bulk of m aterial prepared for lectures and visits.
A L ondoner, born in A ldersgate Street on the 10th A pril, 1871,
his love for L ondon buildings coloured his life’s outlook. A fter
schooldays at L enham , in K ent, and at M orley G ram m ar School,
he entered th e architectural profession, first through the office of
G eorge H u b b a rd , F .R .I.B .A ., and th en in th at of A lfred W a te r
house, P resident of the R .I.B .A ., and architect of so m any great
V ictorian buildings, w here M ansford became chief draughtsm an,
before setting up his own practice in 1906 at R uislip.
H ere he
built for him self " W a ld en ," in K ingsend, w hich provided him w ith
a hom e and an office for the rest of his life. O th er houses of consider
able interest followed at Ruislip, at Petersfield, and elsewhere.
All are notew orthy as exam ples of clever planning and contriving
to m eet the wishes of clients w ith definite views.
M ansford’s greatest work, however, was the South Place
Ethical Society’s prem ises, Conway H all, R ed Lion Square. As
a m em ber of the Ethical Society he em barked on this w ork w ith
enthusiasm , w ith the result that, w hen it was com pleted in 1929,
O
253
�th e m usic critic o f th e Daily Telegraph said, w ith regard to the
large m eeting hall, “ owing to its excellent acoustic properties,
it is th e best hall in L ondon for th e appreciation of cham ber
m usic.” In the 1920’s he served on th e L ibrary C om m ittee of
th e Royal In stitu te o f British A rchitects and, in 1931, soon after
its inception, he becam e th e very active honorary secretary of
th e A rchitectural G raphic R ecords C om m ittee, carrying on until
its transform ation in 1940 into th e N ational B uilding; Record.
It should never be forgotten that, despite a grievous lack of funds,
d u rin g this period 36,500 references, together w ith the m easured
draw ings and a n u m b er o f catalogues from some fifty libraries,
w ere dealt w ith by voluntary effort and m uch o f the credit is due
to M ansford.
H e was a freq u en t co n trib u to r to th e architectural press of
A m erica, as well as o f E ngland, d u rin g th e first forty or so years of
this century. H e was also a keen m em ber of the Society for the
P rotection o f A ncient B uildings and derived m uch pleasure from
lecturing at th e C entral School o f A rts and Crafts. But, of all his
activities, th ere can be no d o u b t th a t ecclesiology was his chief
interest. T o a profound u n derstanding o f mediaeval architecture
he u nited a w ide know ledge o f m odern churches and, up to w ithin
a few m onths of his death, w hich occu red on the 13th June, 1946,
he usually had som e new discovery to report.
T h e Papers w hich he read before th e Society were the result
o f very careful preparation and usually threw fresh light on some
aspect o f th e subject, and this applied w ith even m ore force to the
talks given at " visits.” T h ese were given after a detailed study of
th e literature o f th e subject, one or m ore personal visits and,
usually, correspondence w ith those m ost likely to be able to clear
up doubtful points.
T h e resulting N otes are consequently full
o f such m atters o f interest as th e unexpected irregularities in W re n ’s
plans w hich, in several instances, M ansford traced to the re-use of
m ediaeval foundations.
M em b ersh ip o f our Society b ro u g h t him m any friends, of
w hom th e present w riter is p ro u d to have been one. F o r nearly
tw enty years we travelled about th e country at every possible
holiday or w eek-end, visiting cathedrals, abbeys, parish churches,
schools and private houses, u n d er every condition o f w eather and
road and w ith m any adventures. Yet, th ro u g h all the stresses and
strains, M ansford rem ained th e kindly, considerate com panion,
th e planner o f routes and the negotiator of problem s. Ripon,
N orw ich, Bristol, A m pleforth, Lichfield, M arlborough, Llandaff,
D ow nside, B irm ingham , Bath, Leeds, N ottingham , Portsm outh,
and L eicester are a few nam es w hich conjure up glowing m em ories
o f the fascination o f th e E nglish scene. T u rn in g over the record
o f these pilgrim ages one can b u t repeat the w ords of th e old
C hinese poet, L i-Po, “ D aw n reddens in the wake of night; b u t
the days o f o u r life re tu rn n o t.”
W .W .B .
254
ELY
REY’ scudding clouds across the sky,
A distant h ero n ’s lonely cry,
T h e u p tu rn ed earth be-dyked and black.
A sluggish river’s straightened track,
G ay butterflies am idst the sedge,
W illow s upon the w ater’s edge.
A w indm ill’s sails th at hang forlorn,
Furrow s all lined w ith sprouting corn,
T h e ru tty drove th a t crossed the flood
W ith now a crust of sun-baked m ud
In noon-day glare th at heats and tires,
A nd drifting sm oke o f rubbish fires—
T hese m em ories recall to me
T h e fen-bound Isle of Ely.
G
A gently rising lonely hill,
A n ancient city calm and still,
T h e streets unpaved for horses’ hoofs,
G rey tiles upon the huddled roofs.
H oary, serene and crow ning all
T h e lofty tow er and buttressed wall;
A ro o f’s im pressive height and length
A nd stones th at speak of age and stren g th ;
A wooden lan tern ’s fretted crest;
T h ’ em brasured tu rrets at the west,
T h e gardened precincts sheltering round.
Southw ards— the m eadow ’s sloping ground,
G olden w ith b u ttercups of spring,
Jackdaws and rooks upon the wing.
Such m em ories recall to me
T h e grey-roofed tow n of Ely.
T h a t vista from the w estern door
O f painted roof and m arble floor,
T h e N orm an pillars rising clear
W ith o u t an intervening chair.
T h e octagon’s am azing span,
T h a t daring th o u g h t o f W alsingham .
A n d then the choir— beyond the screen,
W h a t m iracles of craft are seen !
W h a t miracles of sound are heard
A nd feelings deep w ithin me stirred !
255
�I
Prayer and praise have here arisen,
Since these stones from rocks were riven,
F o r m ore th an twice six h u n d red years.
H ere m en have voiced th eir hopes and fears,
M onk and abbot, bishop and prior,
C anon and priest and preaching friar,
Since th e days o f E theldreda,
A bbess-queen and E ly’s founder.
I close m y eyes and see m eanw hile
A long procession fill th e aisle,
Smoking incense, bell and candles,
M itred prelates, m onks in sandals,
Also days q f priestly thu n d ers,
Saintly relics w orking w onders,
’T ill th ro u g h m ists o f superstition
W ycliffe had a clearer vision—
N o longer now th e fast and scourge,
B righter years upon us surge,
M an will find his heaven below,
A lthough his progress m ay be slow.
N ext th e organ’s deep vibration
Com es th e drow sy intonation,
A nd th e chorused long A m e n .
M ay, 1920.
F .H .M .
T h e city churchyards have often been curtailed and som etim es
altogether absorbed by streets and buildings; yet there are m any
unexpected little plots rem aining and they provide shady corners
and resting places for city folk am id the wear and tear o f business
life. O ne of the prettiest was th at existing until a decade or so
ago in the Bank o f E ngland, w hich had grown up around it. T h ere
was a fountain, a fine plane tree and rhododendrons well cared for
and very pleasant.
T h e churchyard from three united parishes
form s a little oasis in A ldersgate Street; here again is a fountain.
A little w ooden cloister com m em orates the brave deeds o f ordinary
people, m ainly o f those who have sacrificed their lives in saving
others.
Several churchyards contain fragm ents o f the ancient city
wall, the finest being the corner bastion at St. G iles’s, C ripplegate.
(T h e pleasant strip rem aining, com plete w ith seat, beneath the
shelter o f the wall on the site of St. A lphege, L ondon W all, provides
special interest from the crenel lations and diaper patterning of
the late mediaeval brickw ork o f the wall as well as from two
contiguous boundary m arks of adjacent parishes. E d .)
A century ago there was a rookery at St. D u n sta n ’s-in-the-E ast
and a house opposite the church was charged “ a yearly rent o f
£ 3 for the purpose o f furnishing the rooks w ith osier twigs to
enable them to build th eir nests w ithout trouble, and for other
sustenance. ” T o -day we have h u n dreds of pigeons, fed by the
citizens, and nesting in the foliage of W re n ’s corinthian capitals,
not w ithout dam age to the m asonry.
Flocks o f starlings chatter
and bestir them selves as they prepare, in their forgathering, to
set out for w arm er climes. F o r m any a year they have provided
a fam iliar touch for the L ondon nature-lover.
(Reprinted from the “ M onthly R ecord” o f the South Place Ethical Society)
ON BELLS AND BELL-RINGERS
ON CHURCHYARDS
H E R E are several peals o f eight or twelve bells w ithin the
C ity o f L ondon, b ut they are not now all rung. T h e m ost
fam oys are those o f St. M ary-le-B ow , rung cerem onially on
L ord M ayor’s D ay, and St. B ride’s, F leet Street, w here a peal of
twelve bells was com pleted in 1724, th e first in th e City*. T h a t was
the tim e w hen bell-ringing was very fashionable and some o f the
ringers retu rn ed to the W est E nd in th eir carriages. A year later
there is an en try in the churchw ardens’ accounts at St. G iles’s
C ripplegate : “ Paid for a leg o f m u tto n for ye ringers on A scension
D ay— 2s. l d . ” . . . A t a tim e w hen the houses w ere m ostly of
wood the curfew was an im portant m atter, b u t old custom retained
the curfew long after the need to extinguish fires had passed, even
into th e last century.
T
N R om an tim es no citizen was allowed to be buried w ithin
th e walls, b u t in th e M iddle Ages nearly every citizen was buried
in his ow n parish. T h erefore in walled cities there m ust have been
great difficulty in finding room for th e dead. In L ondon this
was partly overcom e by clearing portions o f the churchyards from
tim e to tim e and placing the bones in a charnel house, or if such
did not exist, in th e great charnel house near St. Paul's. In a few
instances crypts rem ain under the churches, and these were probably
used for th e purpose. T h e one opened not long ago at St. O lave’s,
H a rt Street, rath er surprisingly contains a well. It is significant
th a t th e only opening in th e wall o f this crypt is on the south, the
side o f th e churchyard, so t l r t it w ould have been possible to
transfer bones directly from th e yard to th e crypt. T h is would
doubtless have been m ore convenient and m ore seemly than
carrying them dow n a steep and narrow stair.
* Both these peals were silenced by enemy action through fire : the bells
fell and were considerably damaged, also some o f them suffered by the intense
heat.— A.R .H .
256
257
I
A
�T h e great bell at St. Sepulchre’s was rung at the execution of
crim inals at N ew gate. In th e aisle o f th e ch urch is, or was, a small
hand-bell w hich was ru n g outside th e condem ned cell the night
before th e execution, th e ringer chanting m eanw hile an exhortation
to repentance.
Six or seven churches possessed bells w hich date from before
th e G reat Fire (1666) b u t none so fam ous as some of those w hich
were m elted in its heat. I am thinking o f those of Bow C hurch
whose message alm ost m iraculously w afted to H ighgate, rang
" T u rn again W h ittin g to n , L ord M ayor o f L o n d o n .”
CITY SWORD-RESTS
E A R L Y all th e C ity churches provided a corporation pew
and a sw ord-rest or stand. T h e nu m ber o f the rests now
rem aining in L ondon is seventy, several churches having
two or three. T h is is som etim es accounted for by the transference
o f th e sw ord-rest from a dem olished church to the church of united
parishes. T h e only ch u rch I can call to m ind w ithout one is St. M ary
A lderm anbury, w hich was alm ost cleared o f its original fittings
about sixty years ago. I believe th at th e unnam ed exam ple at the
V ictoria and A lb ert M useum came from th at church. A friend
and I are tracing these relics as far as we can, and as the result of
an interesting investigation I th in k th at we have established this
fact. N early all the sw ord-rests are w rought iron, although there
are w ooden exam ples. T h e rests usually bear th e arm s of G reat
B ritain, th e C ity o f L ondon and th e livery com pany to w hich the
L ord M ayor belonged in w hose honour they were erected. I am
not sure at whose expense they were p u t up, w hether the livery
com pany or th e parish. I should be inclined to think th at w hen
a livery com pany attended an annual service in th e church of the
parish in w hich its hall was situated, and the sw ord-rest bears the
arm s o f th a t com pany, they were th e donors. L ord M ayors in the
past frequently attended C ity churches in state, accom panied by the
sheriffs. Living in th e C ity as a boy, I can vividly recall th e clanking
o f m any horses’ hoofs in the sabbath-silent streets, w hich indicated
to us th at th e picturesque procession was approaching, headed
by the C ity M arshal on horseback.
N
pow erful persons by his outspokenness and also dispelled m any
cherished traditions. If in his search am ong old docum ents he
discovered th at individuals, or even corporations, had been faithless
to th eir trusteeship, he did not fail to denounce them .
He
mercilessly exposed fashionable quack physicians and other
im postors. H e railed against the M arquis of W inchester for his
destruction of th e steeple of the A ugustinian church. “ L ondon
had lost a goodly m onum ent for one m an ’s com m odity. T im e
hereafter m ight talk of it.” H e poured scorn on some other w riters
on A ntiquities w hom he styled plagiarists, and proved th at they
quoted statem ents w ithout verification. H e refuted the tradition
th at the dagger in the C ity's arm s had anything to do w ith the
stabbing of W a t T yler, b u t show ed th at it was the sw ord of
St. Paul and had been in use before the reign of R ichard the Second.
M en in our tim e have asserted th a t D ick W h ittin g to n never ow ned
a cat nor King A rth u r a R ound T able, b u t their discoveries are not
popular. How ever, old Stow m ust have won the esteem o f his
fellow citizens at last, if we can judge by the fine alabaster m onum ent,
erected not long after his death in the church of St. A ndrew U n d ershaft. W h en we pay our respects we should rem em ber th at he
was th e friend of C am den, th at our society was first launched under
th e nam e of the C am bridge C am den Society, and only changed
the title after the original m em bers had left C am bridge.
INIGO JONES
R IT E R S on Stow generally express surprise th a t so fam ous
a m an should have received so little encouragem ent, and
have becom e so poor th a t in th e eightieth year of his age
collections were m ade on his b ehalf by special licence from the
king. I th in k th at th e explanation is th at he offended m any
N E w onders w hether W re n had to fight for the designs of
his parish churches as he had to do for the cathedral plans.
Presum ably in each case he w ould have to satisfy the
incum bents and the leading parishioners. Before the G reat Fire
all the churches in L ondon were o f G othic character w ith one
exception— th a t of Inigo Jones’s church of St. P au l’s, C ovent
G arden. Inigo Jones was an innovator, b u t th e n he had a duke
for his client, and not a very ecclesiastically m inded duke either.
Know ing th at his tenant leaseholders w ould require a conveniently
situated place of w orship, he asked th e C ourt architect to design
" som ething b etter th an a b a rn .” F or a generation or two St. P au l’s,
C ovent G arden, m ust have been one o f the m ost fashionably
attended places of w orship in the capital and no d o u b t its com plete
abandonm ent of m ediaeval tradition helped W re n to im pose his
classic taste upon the citizens, although we know th at in a few
instances he had to adopt the G othic style.
L et us im agine ourselves about three hun d red years ago, after
crossing the bridge over the Fleet River and before beginning the
steep and narrow ascent of L udgate H ill, gazing at the ships
discharging fish and sea-coal A b o u t half-way up the hill stands
L udgate, used as a prison for debtors and ornam ented w ith the
statue of Q ueen Elizabeth w hich is now over th e porch of
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JOHN STOW
T A IL O R A N D C H R O N IC L E R
W
O
�St. D u n sta n ’s, Fleet Street. W e push our way through the
thronged and narrow arch. T h e vista o f the thoroughfare is
com pletely blocked by the scaffolding w hich encloses the great
portico arising in front o f St. P au l’s cathedral. T h e like of this portico,
from th e design o f Inigo Jones, has never before been seen in
England. T h a t portico, in th e heart o f th e city, paved the way
for W re n in th e m inds o f th e leading citizens.
[T here is a m em orial to Inigo Jones in the church of St. Benet,
P au l’s W h arf, now used by th e W elsh.]
W REN’S CITY CHURCHES
R E A T changes came over E nglish architecture d uring the
sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, betw een the
R eform ation and th e C om m onw ealth. Foreign artists were
invited to E ngland or fled here from th e C ontinent. T h ere was
the Italian T orrigiano, th e F ren ch L e Soeur, the G erm an H olbein,
and, later, th e D u tch Van Dyck. T hese, and m any other artists
and craftsm en, helped to change com pletely the fashion o f all
th e arts. N oblem en and others travelled to foreign cities, and some
retu rn ed w ith scupltures and m arbles to adorn their tow n palaces
or country m ansions. Sir C h risto p h er W ren him self w ent to
Paris in 1665, the year o f th e plague; he visited buildings in
course o f erection such as the L ouvre, and doubtless m ade note
o f th e recently com pleted dom ed church o f Val de Grace, w here
o u r K ing C harles th e F irs t’s Q u een had been buried.
G
O nly one parish ch u rch had been b uilt in the C ity o f L ondon
d u rin g the period w hich we are considering— St. K atharine Cree,
in L eadenhall Street. T h a t was erected as late as th e reign o f
Charles th e F irst, yet, apart from the Renaissance details of the
arcades w hich separate nave from aisles, the general effect is largely
G othic because o f th e traceried w indow s and the p attern of the
ribs on th e plaster vault. Inigo Jones had b uilt St. Paul's, C ovent
G arden, in a purely Italian style, b u t th at was a private chapel-ofease for th e convenience o f residents on th e D uke o f B edford’s
estate th en in course o f developm ent.
to stand or kneel.
A fter the G reat Fire m any parishes were
am algam ated on grounds o f econom y and this m ade it im perative
th a t the new churches should be as com m odious as possible. T h e
necessary extra accom m odation caused W re n to resort to galleries
in m any instances and these required spacious staircases and lofty
pulpits. M otives of econom y m ade it desirable to use existing
foundations w here feasible and old m asonry and other m aterials.
In a few cases portions o f walls could be em bodied in the new
stru ctu res; especially was this the case w ith the lower portions
o f towers.
W re n seems, w ith his usual com m onsense, to have accepted
all these factors willingly, for the only instances in w hich he
appears to be clinging to th e out-m oded “ G othick ” were those
w here the wishes o f a donor or of the parishioners had to be m et
(St. M ary A lderm ary and St. M ichael, C ornhill, are cases in point).
H is m athem atical m ind played upon various plan-shapes— square
and oblong w ith one aisle, w ith two aisles or aisleless; w ith ceilings
flat, coved, groined or barrel-shaped; also w ith dom es on walls
only, on barrel vaults, on four or eight colum ns, and a ten-sided
ch urch w ith six colum ns carrying the dom e.
T h e cost of the fabrics only was m et by a duty of one shilling
on every ton o f coal entering the m etropolis; th e parishioners
subscribed the m oney for the furnishings and fittings. In spite
o f W re n ’s longevity and industry he cannot have designed all
th e details of the fittings, for besides th e fifty churches and the
cathedral he was em ployed upon G reenw ich and Chelsea H ospitals,
palaces at H am pton, W inchester and K ensington, several C ity
livery com panies’ halls, the M onum ent, T em ple Bar and college
w ork at O xford, C am bridge, E ton and W inchester. W e know
th at the F rench sm ith T ijou designed his w rought iron screens,
grilles and gates, although W ren doubtless gave him ideas as to
size and character. T h e nam e of G rinling G ibbons is associated
w ith m ost o f the carved woodwork in the churches, b u t here
again it w ould have been physically im possible for one m an to
have executed all this work, especially w hen accounts prove that
he was engaged at the cathedral and various palaces at the
same tim e.
T h is is, briefly, th e setting o f the stage on w hich W re n was
asked to perform . B ut he had to consider other factors. T h e
im pulse w hich A rchbishop L aud had given in favour o f a
cerem onial liturgy had died dow n d u rin g the reign o f Puritanism
at the tim e o f the C om m onw ealth. L ong serm ons had become
the chief feature o f the Sunday services and the com m union table
was overshadow ed by th e pulpit. Even th e w ord “ altar ” had
alm ost fallen into disuse. C hoirs only existed in cathedrals, royal
chapels and a few o ther churches. T h e increase of population
resulted in m any churches being overcrow ded, especially as all
w orshippers expected to be seated and were no longer content
W re n was pre-em inent as an astronom er and a leader in the
realm s o f physics, m echanics, m eteorology and chem istry. M y
old m aster and principal had this in m ind w hen he paid trib u te
to W re n on the occasion of the celebration o f his bi-centenary.
As President o f the R .I.B .A . it fell to M r. W aterhouse to lay the
cerem onial w reath on W re n ’s tom b in St. P au l’s.
A t the
com m em oration banquet the same evening he concluded his
speech w ith th e following w ords : " W e to-day pay reverent
hom age to a m an so dow ered w ith the gifts of genius and w ith the
spirit o f industry th at his leadership in the fields of natural science
found no equal save in his suprem acy as an architect : one,
m oreover, whose culture in classic literature was gracefully balanced
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�by a character so gentle and alluring as to w in this o u tb u rst from a
contem porary :
It is doubtful w hether he was m ost to be
com m ended for the divine felicity o f his genius or for th e sweet
hum anity o f his disposition.' ”
NOTES ON BOMBED CHURCHES IN LONDON
O R two h u n d re d and fifty years L ondon afforded such a
panoram a o f dom es, tow ers and spires as was equalled by
no city in E urope. C ontinental cities usually had, and have,
several large parish churches. In E ngland, on the other hand,
cities o f ancient foundation, such as L ondon, Bristol, Exeter, York
and N orw ich, contained m any sm all ones.
F
W ith in th e area o f th e C ity o f L o n d on— one square m ile—
th ere have been one h u n d red and fifteen separate parishes, each w ith
its own church, besides th e cathedral, priories and nunneries.
Several o f these disappeared in th e spiritual flames o f R eform ation
and m any m ore in th e m aterial flames o f 1666, so th a t at the end
o f th e seventeenth centu ry m any parishes had been am algam ated
and th ere w ere only seventy-tw o churches in the C ity itself. T h is
practice o f uniting parishes dates from th e reign o f H en ry th e F irst
and, finally, prior to 1939, there were forty-eight churches intact,
including those w ithin th e extension o f th e city boundary to the
west and north.
O f th e forty-eight churches eight w ere m ediaeval, thirty-tw o
by W re n , and eight o f subsequent date. W h a t has been the fate
o f W re n ’s churches ? H e designed churches adapted to fam ily
w orship and th e hearing o f long serm ons. C onsequently, there
were spacious pews and im posing pulpits, generally centrally
placed, and, to some extent, hiding th e com m union tables.
Populous parishes required galleries; th ere w ere no structural
sanctuaries, nor choir stalls. T h e re were, however, handsom e
reredoses inscribed w ith th e C om m andm ents, the C reed, the
L o rd ’s Prayer and, usually, w ith paintings of M oses and A aron.
T h e organs were m ostly added later, b u t often in W re n ’s lifetim e;
they invariably occupied th e west galleries.
St. Sw ithin’s, C annon Street and St. M ary A lderm ary bastard platetracery was introduced into the windows. Sir G ilbert Scott added
G othic porches to A Il-H allow s-by-the-T ow er and St. M ichael’s,
C ornhill, a m iddle pointed G othic apse to St. A lb an ’s, W ood Street.
Some of these were good in them selves b u t were seldom in harm ony
w ith the spirit of W ren. Perhaps the m ost extraordinary evidence
o f change of taste was that Street, the architect o f th e L aw C ourts,
was em ployed to make a design for the re-building of St. D ionis
B ackchurch in red-brick G othic. T h is was in 1860 and I surm ise
th at it did not m aterialise because the C orporation required the site
for the w idening o f F en ch u rch Street. O nly a narrow strip o f
garden recalls the position o f W re n ’s fine church.*
You may w onder w hy I refer to some of these m atters, b u t
they are relevant to the future of these churches. T h ere are other
points to be taken into consideration. T h e fabrics of W re n ’s
churches were, w ith one exception, built at the cost of all the citizens
o f L ondon and its su burbs by m eans of a tax on coal : the fittings
only were paid for by parishioners. Again the population o f the city
has declined d uring the last hun d red years. T h e congregations
o f the destroyed churches were m ostly very small and the incum bents
and choir usually lived at a distance from the parish. W e should
rem em ber, too, th at the D u tch congregation at A ustin F riars once
received an offer of a m illion pounds for the site of their church
and two or three houses adjoining. T h e C ity and South L ondon
Railway C om pany offered three quarters of a m illion pounds for
the site of St. M ary W oolnoth. B oth of these tem pting offers were
honourably declined. W h a t of the fu tu re ?
First, there are the “ clean sweepers ” w ho consider th a t the
rem aining churches suffice for the whole area of the city, th at the
ruined churches stand in the way o f proper reconstruction of roads
and buildings, that if the sites w ere disposed of m any new churches
could be built and endow ed in the suburbs.
Secondly, there are those w ho advocate the rem oval o f the ruins
leaving only the tow ers and spires, w ith small gardens attached.
Some o f the m em orials could doubtless be recovered and placed
in th e towers.
Thirdly, others w ould reconstruct the churches them selves in
the suburbs.
Lastly, there is the proposal advocated in th e Times to restore
th e fabrics w here practicable and to postpone the m atter of fittings
indefinitely.
T h e O xford M ovem ent altered a great deal of this d u ring the
nineteen th century. Pulpits w ere shifted to afford a b etter view of
the altars. C hoir stalls were provided and organs m oved to the east
end w here they often destroyed the sym m etry o f the aisles and
exposed aw kw ard looking flanks. Pews were lowered and rearranged
to suit th e altered conditions. Stone-flagged floors were relaid w ith
red and black encaustic tiles. Stained glass was introduced into the
window s and obscured th e light, already m uch reduced by the
increased height o f neighbouring buildings. T h e influence o f the
G othic Revival did not stop th ere for in St. M ichael’s, C ornhill,
* The panelled Vestry Hall also served to retain the name of the parish
and was used for elections and other local matters.— A .R.H .
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T h e re is m uch to be said for the policy of retaining the tow ers
and spires and I expect th at in m any cases it will be carried out.
It w ould give little satisfaction to the shade o f Sir C h ristopher
for he had designed his churches as a w onderful group, balanced as
�to m ass and contrasted in outline. T o see a few isolated specim ens
overtopped by tall buildings w ould fill him w ith dism ay. H e was
som etim es able to incorporate portions o f mediaeval tow ers as at
St. L aw rence Jew ry, w here th ere is one angle acute, b u t not noticeable
while th e body o f th e church stood. T h e destroyed lantern was
m ade square and not parallel w ith th e oblique parapets. A gain
th e lower parts o f tow ers w ere very often plain, being little
seen in narrow courts and streets until they rose clear above the
adjoining roofs.
W h e n we come to th e proposal to rem ove the churches to the
su b u rb s and reconstruct th em th ere as far as possible stone by stone
let us reflect on the case o f St. A ndrew 's, W ell Street, w hich was
so re-erected at K ingsbury. T h e cost was about £50,000 and the
late Bishop o f L on d o n said " N ever again." W re n ’s designs
were for particular sites, often so hem m ed in th at th e side elevations
were negligible or alm ost non-existent. M any o f his best churches
had galleries and these were an integral part o f the design and built
w ith th e high pulpits. T h e congregations in these galleries w ould
h ardly be able to see the altar unless seated in the front, hence m uch
space w ould be wasted.
As regards the last proposition, to rebuild or restore the fabric
in situ and leave the fittings to the future, we know nothing of the
new tow n plan for th e C ity b u t we m ay be quite sure th at the
narrow streets and alleys th a t W re n w ished unavailingly to suppress
will not survive. W re n ’s churches w ere adapted to th e lines of these
frontages and only in a few instances were suited to stand free like
St. C lem ent D anes or St. Jam es';’, Piccadilly.
Is it likely th at th e ch u rch authorities will forgo all these
site values and rebuild churches w hich they regard as red u n d an t and
m aintain th em w hen they w ould be practically useless for services ?
It is not possible to lay dow n general rules applicable to all
the destroyed churches. Each m ust be considered on its m erits—
its artistic value, its condition and how it fits into the new tow nplan for th e City. I w ould suggest th a t St. B ride’s C hurch, whose
walls are fairly intact, be used as a W re n M useum . T h ere will
be m any pieces o f finely carved oakwork, ironw ork and m asonry
w hich cannot be re-used. T h ese could be collected and arranged
on th e floor space. In reconstructed l'evel galleries, draw ings,
plans, photographs and paintings o f all W re n ’s works could be
displayed. O nly by such m eans can the genius o f W re n be
preserved and appreciated. St. N icholas Cole A bbey w ould make
a fine concert and lecture hall, its low flat ceiling and unobstructed
interior being particularly good for sound. T h e east wall of
St. Law rence Jew ry should be preserved even if the whole o f this
m ost elaborate o f W re n ’s churches be not restored as the
“ C orporation C h u rc h ."
B ut m uch will depend upon w hether we get Peace w ith
Security or only Peace w ith A nxiety.
THOUGHTS ON NINETEENTH CENTURY
ARCHITECTURE
(From Lectures to Students)
O B E R T A D A M ’S visit to Italy had notable effects on English
architecture.
C ontinental travel becam e fashionable and
a club was form ed in L ondon for m em bership o f w hich
only those were eligible w ho had visited lands, at first five hun d red
b ut, later, one thousand miles away. Explorations in G reece and
th e arrival in L ondon o f the m arbles from the P arthenon directed
cultivated taste to H ellenic art. T h e struggle for G reek in d ep en d
ence (and the death of Byron) helped to sustain the interest. H ence
the desire to create buildings of G reek design in a m ovem ent w hich
becam e know n as
the G reek Revival.M T h ere were, at least,
th ree clubs form ed as a result of this or influenced by it, the
A theneum , the P arthenon and the E rectheum . T h e first o f these
has becom e one of the prem ier clubs o f the w orld and still occupies
the building, o f date 1830, ornam ented w ith a reproduction of the
parthenaic frieze. T h e D oric gateway to E uston Station is an exam ple
of this phase as is also St. Pancras C hurch nearby. T h e exterior
of this church is based on the tem ple at A thens know n as the
E rectheum and in order to satisfy th e dem and for a steeple, a
com position based on a m ixture o f m otifs and details from the
T em ple o f the W in d s and o f the C horagic m onum ent to Lysicrates
rises from behind the portico. T h e climax of the m ovem ent m ay
be said to be the unfinished reproduction o f p art o f the P arthenon
w hich adorns the C alton H ill at E dinburgh.
R
Archaeological research was not confined to th e antiquities o f
G reece and Rom e for the em bers of G othic w ere still sm ouldering
in the closing years of the eighteenth century, b ursting into flames
at Straw berry H ill and F onthill A bbey, fanned by those rom antics,
H orace W alpole and W illiam Beckford. In the early years o f
the nineteenth century there was a literary m ovem ent led by Sir
W alter Scott and the poet W o rdsw orth w hich tu rn ed m en ’s thoughts
to the ancient m onum ents of our own country. “ R uins ’’ becam e
fashionable and " G othic ’’ ceased to be a w ord o f reproach
and even am ateurs becom e experts in distinctions of style.
T h e n the O xford M ovem ent took place in the C hurch, and
gradually the ritual of the services in m any o f the churches reverted
m ore and m ore to th e cerem onial o f the M iddle Ages. T h e literary
and ecclesiastical m ovem ents, com bined w ith th e w ork o f artists
hke C arter, B ritton and C otm an, com bined to produce the G othic
Revival w hich perm eated not only building, b ut all the kindred
crafts. A great num ber of new churches was required to m eet the
rapidly grow ing population of the industrial tow ns. T hese were
alm ost invariably built in a G othic style, m ost of th e schools and
the vicarages following suit. M unicipal buildings, law courts,
m useum s and even railway stations m ade a brave show of buttresses,
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�cathedral at W estm inster. T h e inspiration for his design is to be
sought in R avenna and Byzantium . T h e reverberation o f his
triu m p h is still felt in ecclesiastical circles for reasons not entirely
aesthetic. Brick as a m aterial is cheaper th an stone nearly every
where, and a good deal of ornam ental effect can be obtained by
laying bricks in herring-bone or vertical panels, and by a discreet
use o f various kinds o f courses. All these effects can be obtained
w ithout any fu rth er work upon the m aterial itself. A little added
expense produces bricks o f special shapes. All o f these expedients
Bentley em ployed w ith skill upon the exterior o f his great work.
A m asonry church equally ornam ented w ould have been vastly
m ore expensive.
You m ay not be so fam iliar w ith exam ples o f broken rules
or conventions. Belcher designed a fine building near M oorgate
for the In stitu te o f C hartered A ccountants. T h e crow ning feature
is an enriched architrave and cornice supported upon Ionic colum ns.
T h e re is no frieze betw een the architrave and the co rn ice; th u s the
entablature (if one may still so term it) lacks one of its three orthodox
m em bers. T h ere is, however, a band of fine sculpture below the
u pper w indow s. It is as if the frieze had been divorced from its
usual place for this purpose. A t N ew Scotland Yard, N orm an Shaw
built his red brick su p erstru ctu re upon a lofty grey granite p lin th
w ithout the intervention of the usual stringcourse to m ark the
junction. A nd, finally, we have M r. W a d e ’s School of N eedlew ork
at South K ensington, w ith its th re e-q u arter engaged colum ns on
the u pper part, supported upon corbels only. It was a healthy
sign of public interest that questions on these last instances were
asked and replied to in the H ouse of Com m ons. Scotland Y ard
was com pared to a jam or pickle factory, w hich probably was a
delicate com plim ent to a building belonging to M essrs. Crosse and
Blackwell, not long since dem olished.
W e m ay sum up the conclusions of the nineteenth century in
the following generalisations. T h e century opens w ith a fashionable
G reek Revival, and G othic struggling to find expression. T h e n the
G reek enthusiasm is exhausted and a G othic Revival is in full
sw ing; b u t its suprem acy is always challenged by the classic school
w hich is in m ost favour for civic and com m ercial buildings. Finally,'
G othic influence fades although still felt in m atters ecclesiastical.
A rchitects w ork m ostly in a m ore or less free classic. A few like
Shaw, M acintosh and Voysey strike out in new directions, b u t m ost
do w hat they think will appear right in other people’s eyes.
pinnacles and pointed arches, culm inating in Sir G ilb ert Scott’s
pile at St. Pancras. Revivalists began by picking up the dropped
threads o f the G othic garm ent in its latest style and “ Perpendicular ”
becam e fashionable. T h e n it was discovered th at th e fo uiteenth
centu ry had seen th e sum m it o f G othic art, and “ D ecorated ” was the
only wear. T h e backw ard tren d soon reached the th irte en th century
and tw o o f th e leading church architects, Pearson and Brooks,
soon w orked alm ost exclusively in the Early Pointed style. I do
not say “ Early E nglish,” for b o th m en w ere influenced by the
churches o f N o rth ern France, as was Street by the brick and m arble
churches o f N o rth Italy. T irin g o f native G othic, some dom estic
architects found inspiration in Flanders, H olland and the chateaux
o f th e Loire.
Yet all th e tim e o th er influences were m aintained. T h e Prince
C onsort show ed th e b read th o f his taste by sponsoring an Italian
villa at O sborne, a tow er o f G erm an outline to W hippingham
C h u rch , a Scottish baronial castle at Balmoral and a vast stru ctu re of
iron and glass in H yde Park. H e reposes in an Italo-B yzantine
m ausoleum at Frogm ore. G othic m ade little headw ay in the
C ity.
W e never had a G othic Coal Exchange or Stock
Exchange and people shook th eir heads w hen B aring’s chose
th e Q ueen A n n e period for th eir new head office. T h ey came
to grief and bankers have never since d eparted even thus far from
th e Classic.
Sedding followed on w ith H oly T rin ity , Sloane Street, w here
his P erpendicular G othic church contains a p u lp it and a baldachino
as Italian as they make them .
Finally tow ards th e end o f th e century, chaos was reached
w hen architects took to m ixing th e styles, using old m aterials
in new ways, in troducing new m aterials like steel and terra-cotta,
ornam enting private buildings w ith dom es and tow ers and ignoring
w hat had hith erto been considered rules o f architecture.
As regards th e m ixture o f styles, N orm an Shaw^ intrigued
th e architectural w orld w ith his G o th ic-Q ueen A nne church at
B edford Park. C ollcutt, in the Im perial In stitu te used free classic
details on a stru ctu re w hich is G othic in outline and w ith steep
roofs and lofty elaborated dorm ers. T h e re is even a faint suggestion
o f India in th e tow ers and finials. T h e same building illustrates
a novel use o f red brick for ornam ental bands betw een courses o f
stone.
V aulting in G othic churches had hitherto been o f stone or
plastered laths in im itation o f m asonry. It was left to Pearson to
v ault an E nglish ch u rch th ro u g h o u t in brickw ork. H e even used
com m on yellow stock bricks for this purpose in th e church of
St. John, R ed L ion Square. T erra-co tta was re-introduced, and
W aterh o u se was the first to em ploy it for th e entire external facing
o f an im portant building, nam ely th e N atural H istory M useum .
I t m ade q u ite an im pression, and I have traced its echoes as far
as M ilan. Bentley was equally bold in em ploying brick for his
W h at attitude should one take in criticising m odern buildings
designed in th e fashion o f past centuries and of other climes ? W e
m ust surely feel th at the principle of appropriateness is doubly
violated. But the point is not always so sim ply dealt w ith. Supposing
th at an architect is m aking an addition to an old building, or erecting
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As a result, L ondon affords the greatest variety o f architectural
designs, for nine-tenths o f it dates from the nineteenth century.
Rom e and Paris are m onotonous in com parison.
�a new one in close proxim ity to an ancient m onum ent, w hat attitude
should he adopt w ith regard to his design ? It was curious, and
alm ost am using, th at while Sir H orace Jones was dressing up the
steel fram e o f th e T o w er Bridge in p seudo-G othic m asonry to
harm onise w ith th e T ow er, w ithin the T ow er itself a red brick
G u ard H ouse was b uilt w ithout any G othic features other th an a
gabled roof, and a few m ullioned windows. T h e T ow er Bridge
was at first rapturously received and becam e very popular. T h e
popularity was m ainly due to the fact th at, although only a privileged
few could see th e wheels go round, all could see the bascules move
u p and dow n. T h e G u ard H ouse was stigm atised in the H ouse o f
C om m ons, b u t is now quietly accepted or ignored. M ost architects,
I think, agree w ith th e policy o f th e Society for the Protection of
A ncient Buildings, w hich, while striving to preserve as conserv
atively as is practicable, genuine w ork o f interest, deprecates any
deceptive copying o f bygone form s and details. W e see how Sir
A ston W e b b tackled th e jo b at St. B artholom ew the G reat.
A n o th er exam ple is P en n eth o rn e’s addition to Som erset H ouse,
th e portion facing W ellington Street. T h is was considered to be
such a successful attem p t to be harm onious, w ithout exact copying
o f th e original work, th a t a public din n er was given to P ennethorne
b y his b ro th er architects.
In designing the n o rth front of the
B ritish M useum , Sir John B urnet is generally th o ught to have been
successful. H ow it will link up w ith the front w hen th e wings
are com pleted I do not know, b u t doubtless th at has been considered.
Supposing it was decided to enlarge th e H ouses of Parliam ent by
enclosing N ew Palace Y ard w ith buildings. W ell, we have B arry’s
draw ings for this very thing, w ith a fine gateway tow er at the corner
tow ards Parliam ent Street. O n ly I w ould suggest th at the elaborate
detail o f th e present building should not be reproduced to th at
extent or q uite in th e sam e from . T h e re m ight be ju st enough
m odification to denote the different periods of erection, and to
express th e strin g en t tim es in w hich we are living.
L et us re tu rn to th e appraisem ent o f buildings of Revival
m ovem ents. H aving ad m itted the inappropriateness of past styles
to o u r own age, let us not be blind to qualities o f good proportion,
good com position o f mass and parts and good planning, all of
w hich are practically independent o f style. T h e n there are such
points to be borne in m ind as th e use o f good m aterials in the best
way; consistent scale; dignity and repose, w hich are nearly identical,
and effects o f colour and light and shade, w hich are nearly as closely
connected. T h u s, if we consider a D oric propyleum or gateway
to be an inappropriate entrance to a railway station, we can still
adm ire th e m agnificent m asonry, w ith single blocks (at Euston)
w eighing th irteen tons. If we th in k th at groups o f R om anesque
tow ers are uncalled for in a m useum , and even if we do not care
for terra-cotta, we can adm ire th e planning of the N atural H istory
M useum and th e excellently m odelled and appropriate ornam ent.
I am not thinking o f the N o rm an chevrons, b u t those delightful
268
m onkeys th at are for ever clim bing up the piers of the great hall,
and m any other cleverly conventionalised birds, anim als and reptiles.
If the nineteenth century was characterised as a century of
Revivals, th ere were certain sociological developm ents w hich had
m ore perm anent effect on the appearance o f our towns. U ntil the
construction o f canals, buildings were usually erected o f local
m aterials. T h e exceptions were churches, castles and m ansions,
w hich were often built o f stone even if it had to be brought by sea or
river from a distance. In the beginning of the last century L ondon
was still m ainly a brick-built city roofed w ith tiles. Tw o o f W re n ’s
churches had red-tiled roofs. W h en slates could be brought cheaply
from W ales, they becam e the chief roofing m aterial. U n d er the
R egency it becam e usual to hide brickw ork beneath stucco. L ater in
the century m arbles and tim bers were im ported from all parts of
th e w orld in ever-increasing variety. Cast iron came to the front
in P addington Station w here Brunel allowed D igby W y att to devise
some original b u t not very successful ornam ental details. T h e
C rystal Palace carried th at kind o f developm ent a stage fu rth er and
steel was em ployed at St. Pancras and O lym pia.
T h e extended and cheapened facilities for travel enabled
architects and draughtsm en to fill th eir sketchbooks w ith features
noted abroad especially in France, Italy, H olland, G erm any and
Belgium. In the latter part o f the century buildings frequently
em bodied picturesque bits from these sources and occasionally
w ere m odelled entirely on foreign exam ples. F o r th e first tim e
E ngland felt the influence o f A m erica, not by copying any aesthetic
elem ent, b u t by the adoption o f the elevator or lift. Buildings had
been restricted as to the num ber of their floors by th e ordinary
lim its o f hum an endurance. A fter th e introduction o f the lift,
th e lim it only depended on the thickness of th e walls necessary to
carry the increased floor loads and to resist the force o f gales.
T hick walls are not only expensive to build, b u t occupy m ore space
and restrict the outlook from the room s. Q ueen A nn e's M ansions,
W estm in ster was the first L o ndon block to exploit the new conditions
and the ow ner did this so brutally, and w ith so little regard to the
am enities of his neighbours, th at new clauses o f the B uilding A ct
were form ulated to prevent anyone else following suit to the same
extent. T hese clauses, w hich are still in force, restrict the height
to 80 ft. b u t perm it tw o storeys in the roof in addition.
TW EN TIETH CENTURY ARCHITECTURE
(From Lectures to Students)
N attem pting to judge or describe architecture of the tw entieth
century we are beset w ith difficulties, for w ithin only one-third
of the century there were m ore conflicting aims and new
problem s th an in any w hich preceded it.
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269
�O n th e one hand we see builders nailing deal boards to the
fronts o f brick or concrete houses th at they may label them
“ T u d o r,” while excellent architects restrict them selves to the
traditional m aterials o f a locality and produce beautiful houses
harm onious w ith th eir surroundings and w ith th e texture of
antiquity, beloved o f th eir clients. W e see one of our leading
architects, designing headquarters for the Y .W .C .A ., using the
m anner o f th e early G eorges, so well suited to the period of
crinolines and pow dered wigs, b u t scarcely appropriate to the
young w om en o f today, w ho have discarded the wigs b u t not
th e pow der. W e see buildings w hich are outw ardly clothed w ith
brick or stone b u t are really constructed of steel. A t Selfridge’s,
stone colum ns are b uilt up around steel stanchions because otherw ise
th e su p erstru ctu re could not be sustained.
Some architects have struggled w ith the proper uses of
concrete w hen em ployed instead o f brick or stone. T h ere are
instances w here th e concrete has been freed from the surface
cem ent so as to expose th e aggregate of w hich the mass is com posed.
In other instances the concrete has been covered w ith large,
th in slabs o f m arble or granite frankly treated as veneer, w ith
m etal rivets show ing at th e corners o f th e slabs. A t the D orchester
H ouse H otel th e outer walls are faced w ith precast concrete blocks,
th e o u ter skin o f w hich is com posed of m arble; th e blocks being
so shaped and disposed th a t no one should be deceived into thinking
th a t the walls are stru ctu ral in the old sense of supporting floors
and roof. Floors and roof, and th e loads w hich come upon them ,
are carried by th e steel fram ew ork, w hich has to be concealed
to com ply w ith the B uilding A ct and restrictions against fire.
T h e n we have experim ents in reinforced concrete— a m aterial
w hich not only opens out new possibilities o f construction, b u t is
alm ost im perishable and requires practically no upkeep. T h is
m aterial is revolutionising th e shapes of openings and all our
traditional ideas o f proportion. D evelopm ents in electric lighting
are beginning to affect th e design o f buildings. C entral heating
has given an im petus to th e use o f ply and lam inated woods to
resist th e otherw ise certain w arping and shrinkage. T h e invention
o f plyw ood as now developed enables us to use slabs of wood in
one piece up to about 40 ft. super, m aking the m ethod o f fram ed
panelling unnecessary, and enabling woods of the finest grain and
quality to be used w ithout extravagance.
transform ed by the skilful use of glass for lam ps and canopies.
T h e Daily Express building is an instance of a different sort. H ere
the walling betw een th e continuous w indows of each storey is
faced w ith black glass. A squad of w indow cleaners will be able
to m aintain the elevations fresh in all their hard and rem orseless
efficiency.
R ubber has becom e a recognised m aterial for flooring. T h e
beautiful W a r M em orial Chapel at St. M ichael’s C h urch, C hester
Square, designed by Sir Giles Scott, is paved w ith black and w hite
rubber. It does not offer th e clear surface of m arble, b u t the
squares will wear level, and the distracting noise of scraping chair
legs is avoided; besides, ru b b er is w arm er than m arble to the
feet and knees. A sphalt properly laid provides a w ater-resisting
surface th at makes a sloping roof unnecessary. C an we doubt
b u t th at m ost self-respecting blocks of flats will provide a flat roof
for the landing o f aeroplanes in the near future? T h ere is already a
m otor track on the roof of a factory in T u rin for testing the running
o f m otor cars. T h e o u tp u t of synthetic m aterials is enorm ous
and increasing, and m any o f them can be obtained in a variety
o f colours. A nd as if all these novelties were not sufficient for
architects to assimilate, we have such revolutionary ideas as those
p u t forw ard by the F rench architects, C orbusier and A ugust
Perret.
W e are still confronted w ith the problem s involved in the
clash of ideals, the variety of new m aterials at hand, and the fresh
purposes for w hich buildings have already been required in this
century. Cinem as, film studios, crem atoria, aerodrom es, b ro ad
casting stations, electric transform ing stations, bathing pools and
pavilions are becom ing frequent m anifestations of our civilisation.
W e have to prepare ourselves to do w hat we can to resolve these
conflicts, to preserve some scale and harm ony w ith w hat has gone
before and still persists. W e may dislike the tren d of m odern
architecture, b u t on reflection we m ust adm it th at th e L am p of
T ru th often burns m ost brightly in the M odernist cam p. O r,
on the other hand, we m ay adm ire the clean, polished elevations
o f the Ideal R adiator building in G reat M arlborough Street, or
D rage’s in O xford Street, b u t should we erect sim ilar buildings
facing W estm in ster A bbey or St. P aul’s ? T hese are some of the
difficulties to be faced up to. I have explained som ething of past
tradition. I cannot sufficiently em phasise th at all good building
should continue to be expressive o f its own period, th at revival
and copying are mistakes. T h e appropriate and artistic use of
new m aterials requires m uch thought. T h ere is th e old saying
th a t ‘‘A rt is long, life is short ” ! T h e architectural art was never
longer th a n now, if by length we m ean the variety of its phases
and the com plexity of its form s, b u t, fortunately, life is longer, too,
and the end is not yet.
N o t only wood b u t m etals can now be planed by m achinery.
R ustless m etal can be ex truded from a m achine in a variety of
form s and be m o unted on hardw ood to make doors and shopfronts,
or even a housefront if desired. T h e bronze-faced doors of
Im perial C hem ical H ouse, M illbank, are 20 ft. high, b u t owing
to m odern m ethods o f construction can be operated by one m an.
G lass is now used for a variety o f purposes, b o th on the exterior
a n d in the interior o f buildings. F rascati’s R estaurant in O xford
S treet is an exam ple o f an elevation w hich has been successfully
M ost of you students will enjoy five years m ore of life
th an your grandparents. Spend some of this extra tim e in
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271
�preparation and absorb all you can contrive of the beauty of the
old E ngland w hich is passing. It will help to inspire you to the
creation o f new structures, different in form , b u t not necessarily
less beautiful in th e eyes o f succeeding generations.
PRE-WREN CHURCHES
St .
B a r th o lo m e w
th e
G r e a t, S m it h fie ld
R O M th e tw elfth to the fifteenth centuries w ork was
constantly going on w ith the building or rebuilding o f the
Sm ithfield priory. I f we try to visualise the church about
th e year 1550, we m ust im agine th a t not only the windows b u t
th e walls w ere full o f colour, th e voussoirs o f the arches were
painted red, black and yellow in alternation, and other parts were
diapered, checkered or gilded. A cross the first bay o f the nave,
im m ediately west o f th e crossing, was the pulpitum , a stone screen
bearing th e Rood, w ith th e atten d an t figures and candles; possibly
also a sm all organ. T h e H igh A ltar stood at a higher level than
at p resent, for th e sanctuary had been raised w hen the N orm an
apse was altered. T h e dim , flickering light .of candles b urning
on th e side altars w ould be discernible th ro u g h som e o f th e arches.
Successive acquisitions o f pro p erty in th e last h a lf century
have enabled m uch to be done. In designing the w ork of restoration
Sir A ston W e b b took as his guiding principle to preserve and re-use
all th e old m aterial th at he possibly could, and to carry on the
m ain lines o f existing work. W h ere nothing rem ained, he so
designed th e new th a t no stu d en t in th e future could be deceived.
H ence th e use o f a grey stone internally and the extensive use o f
flints for th e new facings o f th e w est end o f the nave, transepts
and L ady C hapel. M any o f his details and m ouldings have an
individual character not purely m ediaeval.
F
St. O
lave,
H
approxim ately square bays vaulted in chalk upon ribs o f hard
freestone, th o ught to be C hilm ark stone. W h y such a stone
should be brought from the inland county of W iltshire in the
th irteen th century I do not know. T h e walls are of chalk. T h ere
is a well, said to be Rom an. T h e position of the crypt raises two
questions. D oes the crypt represent the length o f th e earlier
church ? If so, it was very small and probably aisleless. If the
crypt was u nder the chancel o f the earlier church, m ust we assum e
the whole church was rebuilt fu rth er east ?
art
S treet
St .
H e le n ,
B is h o p s g a te
O riginally there were two churches, parochial and conventual,
separated by a wall. T w enty-one m ediaeval churches in the C ity
survived the G reat F ire and of these five rem ain. In not one
instance is there an arch separating the nave from the choir. W h e n
a chancel was roofed at a lower level than the nave, an arch was
necessary to support the gable wall, b u t even w hen the roofs were
at the same level a dividing arch was desirable, for usually the
rector was liable for the upkeep of the chancel and parishioners
for the nave. If no structural division were obvious the ap p o r
tionm ent o f ro o f repairs w ould prove difficult. How can we account
for the absence of chancel arches in this C ity of L ondon and in
St. H elen’s in particular ? It seems to have been the custom in
the old C ity for the parishioners to be responsible for the
whole fabric.
A bout two decades ago, w hen a house to th e n orth o f the
church was dem olished, the foundations o f an ancient apse were
discovered, and this led to the surm ise th at the original church
o f St. H elen did not stand on the present site. W h y was it
m oved ? I will hazard a conjecture. It is th at w hen the convent
was founded in 1212 th e boundaries of th e estate w hich it desired
to possess m ade it necessary th at the parish church be rem oved,
as otherw ise the church w ould be encircled by the conventual
buildings, clearly an im possibility.
P erhaps the church had
becom e too small for the parishioners and th e convent offered
to build a finer and larger church alongside th eir ow n on the
boundary of the estate.
A nyw ay, the present building has
evidences o f th irtee n th -c en tu ry construction.
T h e roofs are
know n to have been o f about the year 1430. T h ey are o f straig h t
forw ard carpentry, w ith no ceiling boards or false ribs. In 1888
M r. John Pearson was called in to advise and the present aspect
of th e interior is largely due to th at distinguished architect.
T h is is a typical tow n ch u rch o f the fifteenth century, o f
irregular plan, m ade to utilise every available space. T h e piers
are o f P urbeck m arble, w hich m ay have been selected to enable
th e size to be reduced to a m inim um . C uriously, the bases of
those on th e n o rth are nearly a foot lower th an those on th e south.
A n o th er rem arkable fact is th a t th e w indows o f the south aisle
are set out w ithout any relation to th e piers and arches. T h e door
to th e vestry m ust have led to a form er sacristy. H ad it been
m erely a p riest's door to th e churchyard, w ith no roof beyond,
there seems to be no reason w hy th e w indow in th e aisle should
not have been set out in its norm al relation to the arch opposite.
T h e oldest p art o f the church, only recently discovered (and
now all th a t is left intact), is th e th irteen th -cen tu ry crypt o f two
Very little can be said about the form er church on this site.
It dated from th e fourteenth century, the tim e w hen the parishioners
ceased to w orship in the great church of H oly T rin ity Priory
nearby. T h e church consisted o f a nave and two aisles. T h e
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273
S t . K a t h a r in e C
ree,
L
eadenhall
Street
�tow er was not b u ilt until about 1500. T h ere is a fragm ent of one
o f th e nave piers considerably bu ried (for the ground in L ondon
is said to have risen, on th e average, a foot in a century). O n the
n o rth side o f th e old church was a narrow cloister overlooking the
churchyard. T h is was possibly connected w ith the perform ance
o f m orality and m iracle plays. T h e erection of the cloister m ay
have been a consequence and not a cause. W e do not know w hether
it was o f stone, brick or wood : only th at it was 7 ft. wide. T h ere
is an en try am ong th e parish records of the receipt of 27s. 8d.
for a licence to perform .
T h e shapes o f th e w indow s are unusual. T h e east window
presents th e form o f a rose w ithin a square. T h e only other
instances o f this design occurring in L o ndon are, I think, the
tran sep t w indow s o f W estm in ster A bbey, b u t w hen this church
was b u ilt th e old C athedral possessed an east window of this
form . T h e rem ainder o f th e w indow s have each three lights w ith
cusped, pointed heads; although th e centre lights are carried up
higher, all have flat heads. T h e vaulted ceiling is rem iniscent of
G othic design, b u t o f a flatness only possible in plaster. T h e
two easternm ost bays display m ore ribs th an th e others, and
equal about tw o-fifths o f th e length o f the ch u rch ; surely a
sym ptom o f th e high -ch u rch revival u n d er L aud, w ho was bishop
o f L ondon at the tim e o f building this church. T h e colum ns
and arches have a purely classical character. T h e two eastern
colum ns were painted blue w ith veins o f gold to represent lapis
lazuli, q u ite in th e Italian fashion. T h e arches of the w estern
bay are narrow er th a n th e others, and are m uch stilted so that
th eir sum m its m ay reach the sam e height. As the west end of
th e ch u rch was b u ilt rig h t up to the street pavem ent, it was not
practicable to have external buttresses. C onsequently the device
o f th e narrow arches reduced th e th ru st o f the arcades w here those
th ru sts reached th e o uter wall, and this narrow bay w orked in
conveniently w ith th e narrow m ediaeval tow er w hich was retained.
It has often been stated th a t Inigo Jones was the architect of
this church. As th ere were very few architects th en and Inigo
Jones was far and away th e m ost im p o rtant, it seems quite probable
th a t th e tradition is correct, although there appears to be no
foundation for th is ap art from tradition and the ch u rch ’s
resem blance to some o f his know n work.
painted rood screen right across th e church. In 1723 the church
was w ainscoted and pe wed in oak, a reredos erected w ith painted
figures o f M oses and A aron, also altar rails enclosing m arble
pavem ent, and an organ gallery was form ed at the west end. It
has been stated th at the paintings in the spandrels of the arches
and those o f the A postles w hich form erly existed betw een the
clerestory window s were executed in 1726. T hey are not in full
colour b u t chiaroscuro.
R estorers have wisely left them as
representing the survival in the eighteenth century of a m ediaeval
tradition.
F or a century the stru ctu re of the interior was left in peace.
W e can imagine ourselves entering from the noisy, m uddy street,
passing u nder the house w hich th en stood in front of the tow er
and porch, and finding ourselves in a capacious lobby beneath.
Passing through one of the pair of swing doors, we enter the
passage aisle betw een the tall, straight oak pews, m ostly furnished
w ith cushions, hassocks and carpets. T h e p u lp it stands on a
w ooden base, probably higher th an the present one, and behind
it the reredos w ith th e com m andm ents in gold on black, M oses
and A aron painted, and, above, carved cherubim and the old
stained window.
In 1875 the church caught the full blast o f the G othic Revival.
U n d er th e supervision o f Ewan C hristian and A rth u r Blomfield
the gallery was rem oved, th e organ installed in its present position
and the G eorgian pews gave place to the present benches.
W REN CHURCHES
T h e depressed arches o f th e w indows and arcades w ould
suggest th at this ch u rch was th e latest to be b u ilt in the City
before th e R eform ation, even later th an St. Giles, C ripplegate.
T h e plan consists o f a clerestoried nave, w ith w ide aisles and no
stru ctu ral chancel, the tow er being at th e south-w est corner. O n
th e n o rth wall th ere exists a rood stair tu rre t w hich originally also
gave access to th e roof o f th e aisle. T h e re was probably a richly
O S T o f th e old C ity churches w ere small, and as the
tradesm en and m erchants were responsible for the
attendance o f their apprentices and household at th e
parish church (and there were no nonconform ist chapels) we can
realise how fam iliar m ost m em bers o f a congregation m ust have
been w ith each other. T h e parish church had, therefore, som ething
of the character of a social m eeting-place. It m ust have been
this aspect of affairs th at accounts for as m any as fifty-one churches
being rebuilt after the G reat Fire. It w ould have been cheaper
and m ore expeditious to have built a sm aller n um ber of larger
churches. T h e econom ic loss was trem endous for th a t age, and
the strain was so great th at som e churches were not rebuilt for
twenty-five years.
W re n was designing for a generation w hich had outgrow n
mediaeval sim plicity, a generation of w hich the leaders, at least,
had becom e sophisticated (liking long serm ons if they could listen
in com fort) and wished to build in the latest fashion of w estern
Europe. W re n ’s generation was m ore concerned w ith obtaining
sufficient seating accom m odation for a growing population th an
any elaboration of cerem onial.
274
275
St . A
ndrew
U
ndersh aft,
L
eadenhall
Street
M
�(a) G O T H IC
St .
M a r y A ld e r m a r y
T h is ch u rch had been extensively repaired, redecorated and
fitted for th e revived cerem onial in th e tim e w hen L aud was
Bishop o f L ondon. A lm ost all th e body o f th e church and the
u p p er p art o f th e tow er disappeared in th e flames o f 1666. Traces
o f th e form er west door and o f th e south aisle windows seem to
have rem ained to give th e keynote for W re n ’s design. H e was
lim ited here by th e term s o f a bequest. N ow here else did he plan
a com pletely G othic church. In all probability he adopted the old
foundations. T h e outlines are balanced and rectangular except
for the oblique east wall. T h e tow er is nearly isolated w ith its
sixteenth-century arch on the n o rth side. H e used the bases of
th e m ediaeval piers and the arches seem to be reproductions o f the
earlier ones. T h e plaster enrichm ents o f th e spandrels w ith th eir
renaissance scrolls and cartouches are d ue to him . T o W re n m ust
be given the credit, or otherw ise, o f th e plaster fan vault w ith its
unduly em phasised circles and ovals enriched by ornam ent w hich
seems alm ost to belong to th e realm o f th e confectioner. W h e th er
the form er church had a fan vault o f m asonry we do not know,
b u t as it w ould have been contem porary w ith H en ry V II’s chapel
it is not unlikely, especially bearing in m ind th e Rogers bequest
u n d er w hich W re n worked. T h e furnishings were in W re n ’s
usual style, probably because they were paid for by the
parishioners and not u n d er the will.
(b) H Y B R ID
St .
M ic h a e l,
C o r n h ill
Sir G ilbert Scott undertook work here early in th e last century,
and in 1859 a house at the north-w est corner was dem olished, a
portion o f its site paved and the rest occupied by the florid halfF rench, half-Italian porch, which, ju d g ed apart from its
surroundings, is a fine thing. In M aitland’s “ L o n d o n ,’’ published
about 1750, there is a folio illustration of the west end showing
b o th aisles carried right th ro u g h to St. M ichael’s A lley and n orth
and south porches w ith room s over each. M r. Birch, a form er
m em ber of our Society, and au thor of w hat is still the finest
illustrated work on W re n ’s churches, drew attention to this fact,
and rem arked th a t no inform ation as to either the erection or
dem olition of these porches was forthcom ing.
T hos. Stow, grandfather, and T hos. Stow, father, of the
antiquary, were both buried in the churchyard. T h e will of the
form er is w orth noting as it throw s light on the furnishing of the
church before the R eform ation and the custom s of the age.
(c) E A R L Y C O N T R A S T S
St .
B e n e t , P a u l ’s W h a r f , a n d
St .
L aw ren ce Jew ry
St. B enet’s is unique in its arrangem ent and alm ost unique
in respect o f th e slight alterations w hich it has undergone. T h e
sounding board from th e p u lp it now form s the ceiling o f the
p o rch; otherw ise, apart from m onum ents, glass and some
ornam ents, the general aspect is th at o f the seventeenth century.
Externally the steep roofs covered w ith tiles give th e church a very
special aspect, m ore suited to a country tow n. T h e red brick walls,
lofty windows w ith carved stone swags, recall W re n ’s w ork at
W inchester College. W h en Q ueen Street was m ade the surrounding
levels w ere altered and the little churchyard was absorbed in the
sloping approach to the new thoroughfare.
St. M ichael had m ore honour in this city th an any other
saint except the V irgin. Six churches dedicated to him w ithin
the one square m ile have been destroyed for various reasons.
T h is church, w hen I was a boy, was regarded as m ost sum ptuous
in fu rn itu re and decoration; m any thousands o f pounds had been
spent upon it. W ith its situation, its m usical services, its tow er
and its bells, it enjoyed a prestige not excelled by any other
city church.
W e know little o f th e form er church. T h ere was a cloister
on the south side w ith room s over to house the choristers who
sang mass daily. W re n ’s walls seem to rest upon the older
foundations, as they are not parallel. T h e church is one of his
earliest, dedicated in 1672. T h e old tower was patched up and
served for another half century. T h e present tow er was executed
w hen W re n was in his ninetieth year and is his latest w ork in the
city. C uriously h ybrid in detail, b u t m ost successful in outline
and proportions, this ch u rch becom es less visible every year on
account o f higher buildings going up round it, w hich is m uch
to be regretted.
T h e church was com pleted in 1683 and presents interesting
com parison w ith St. Law rence Jew ry, by th e G uildhall (1677).
In both these churches W re n seems to have been som ew hat
ham pered by the lie o f the old foundations, w ith the result that
o f three sim ilar parts divided by pilasters the central one is the
sm allest (as seen on the east walls). T h e position o f the tow er
in each case has seem ingly influenced this point. In W re n ’s tim e
w ith a central pulpit this w ould scarcely be noticeable.
St. Law rence Jew ry illustrates very well the fundam ental
difference betw een G othic and Renaissance architecture. T h e
difference lies not m erely in the form s of arches and m ouldings
and the ornam ents, b ut in the structural veracity of the form er, a
truthfulness w hich is often lacking in the later style. Strip the
pilasters from these walls and m ere disfigurem ent w ould result,
b u t the piers of a G othic building are real. Hack away the plaster
from this ceiling and a roof of totally different character is disclosed,
one in w hich the vaults are suspended from above by ribs and coves.
A fter a first im pression o f richness and spaciousness there may
276
277
�succeed a feeling th a t th e building is not very m uch like a church.
It m ust have been even less so w hen new, lacking the stained glass
and th e m onum ents. T h e decorative treatm en t of walls and
ceiling m ight seem alm ost suitable for a banking hall or a palace
in th e absence o f stru ctu ral chancel and w ith its flat ceiling. W re n
sacrificed internal for external effect. T h e exterior east end is a
charm ing com position in itself b u t w ith little relation to the interior.
In planning this ch u rch W re n show ed great skill in disguising the
obliquity o f th e site. T h e length on th e south wall is 10 ft. greater
th a n along the colonnades. T h e thickness of the walls varies
also. M y old friend, M r. T . Francis B um pus, who was so well
know n in th e Society, has w ritten a good deal about the large and
very fine organ in the first volum e o f his " L ondon C h u rch es.”
O n th e dem olition o f the G uildhall chapel in 1822 St. Law rence
becam e th e C orporation C h u rch . T h e seating was altered w hen
the ch u rch was restored u n d er Sir A rth u r Blomfield in 1866/7,
probably to give greater dignity to th e altar.
( These two churches illustrate the wide range o f W ren’s
work : English brick and stone ornamentation on one hand
and the very different Italianate stone and plaster building,
4 richly g ilt,” on the other.— A .R .H .)
4
(d)
St .
M a r y -a t-H ill,
DOM ES
B illin g s g a te ,
1672-77
In m ediaeval tim es th e church was referred to as Santa M aria
ad M ontem , a description w hich tran sp o rts us m om entarily beyond
th e A lps. T h e hill is less obvious now, for after the G reat Fire
T ham es Street was relaid upon a foundation of debris four feet
above its form er level, w hich was itself six feet above the original
R om an level. Parts o f th e older ch u rch are em bedded in the wall
o f th e p resent one. W e know little o f the earlier church w hich had
seven altars, one o f w hich stood betw een the statues of St. Nicholas
and St. T hom as a Becket : St. N icholas, as patron saint of sailors,
for the fisherm en’s quay was n earb y ; St. T hom as a Becket because
as a young m an he had been attached to the church as a priest
(probably while his father, th e Portreeve, was living in T h e Poultry).
T h e N orm an church, fam iliar to Becket, was rebuilt tow ards the
close o f the fifteenth century and extensively repaired in 1616.
T h e tow er and walls w ere not so badly dam aged by fire b u t
th a t W re n was able to patch th em up. T h is he did betw een 1672
and 1677. W h e n he had finished, th e parishioners had a very
hybrid stru ctu re, for while th e exterior, apart from the east wall,
appeared mediaeval, the interior, except for the aisle windows,
was o f purely classical design.
T h e m oderate dim ensions and lack of funds precluded any
am bitious design, b u t W re n contrived a dignified interior based on
his conception o f the ceiling, th e th en novel idea o f a dom e rising
from the intersection o f four barrel vaults. T h is schem e dictated
the need of four colum ns or piers.
W re n ’s com m onsense chose
the form er as being less obstructive. T h e dom e is small and has no
external expression w hatever as com pared w ith St. S tephen’s,
W albrook, probably the first tru ly dom ed building in England.
T h e tow er was rebuilt in 1780 w hen the west wall was shifted
to make way for vestries. D espite this, the whole fabric proved
inadequate u nder the leadership o f P rebendary Carlile and the work
o f the C h urch A rm y. T h e optical lantern for prayers and hym ns,
stringed and brass instrum ents as an adjunct to the choir, and the
display o f fish at harvest festival, w ere novel and attracted large
congregations.
St.
S te p h e n , W a lb r o o k ,
1672
T h is church has received greater approbation than any other
of W re n ’s parish churches.
Bearing in m ind the rubble m asonry
of the exterior T . F. B um pus w rote : " N ever was so sweet a kernel
in so rough a shell.” T h e success o f this first dom ed building
in the country so early in W re n ’s career no d o u b t accounts for the
latitude he was allowed in building St. P au l’s. H e expanded the
central area o f the cruciform plan, em ployed eight colum ns to support
the dom e. Portions o f the ceiling are flat, others barrel-vaulted,
groined and ungroined.
W h en the tall pews w ere rem oved
architectural gram m ar dem anded the orthodox square pedestals
in place o f the inconspicuous and non-obstructing small octagonal
bases planned by W ren .
St . M
il d r e d ,
B read Str eet,
1683
T his is one o f the thirty-seven oblong churches W re n designed
for the city. It has a dom e supported directly from the walls
w ith transverse barrel vaults. A lthough the church has th e sim ple
outline of an oblong room , it is by W re n ’s genius rendered wellproportioned, dignified and unique. T h e position o f the tow er
at the south-east is unusual and the lowest storey form s th e vestry.
It is possible W re n built on foundations of th e m ediaeval tow er
for econom y or perhaps he felt it w ould darken th e church m ore
if placed over the entrance.
W e know th a t the cost o f this church was £ 3,705 12s. 6£d.
T h is w ould be for the carcase only as the com m issioners left the
parishioners to find the m oney for th e fittings. D etails are given of
the plasterw ork and for the w indows w hich were provided by
Elizabeth Pewrie, glazier, for £28 odd. She could hardly have m ade
the glass, w hich probably came from the factory at W hitefriars.
M ost likely she was the widow o f a m aster glazier and em ployed
m en to cut and fix the glass. In the accounts, torches w ere charged
for at 3d. per night and candles at 4 |d . per lb. T hese were for
overtim e to hasten com pletion.
279
�T h e plaster enrichm ents o f the ceiling are very fine. F o u r
figures o f cherubim at th e centre o f th e dom e w ere rem oved la te r;
b u t th e cherubs supporting th e p en d en t brass candelabra rem ained.
O ne m ust rem em ber th at th e casting o f plaster in m oulds was not
practised in th e seventeenth century and th at all the u n d ercutting
was done by hand.
St .
M ary A bch u rch ,
1686
T h is building is 60 ft. w ide and ju s t a little longer. By placing
th e tow er at one corner and th e gallery in a recess behind a single
colum n W re n reduced his plan to an apparent square. Seven
corbels ranging w ith his single capital enabled him to form eight
ap parently equal arches to su p p o rt an alm ost circular ring cornice.
U p o n this he raised a dom e, th e springing point of w hich is level
not w ith th e cornice b u t w ith the corbels on the walls. T h e
pendentives really form part o f th e hem ispherical dom e, although
th e interception o f th e cornice disguises this fact.
T h e slight
lack o f parallelism o f th e n o rth and south walls m ust have caused
m uch difficulty in setting out th e ceiling and we m ust conclude that
W re n utilised th e foundations o f the mediaeval church. T h e
dom e is painted by Sir Jam es T h o rn h ill who caught the prevailing
fashion of his day. Instead o f being content to treat the whole
surface as th e firm am ent he introduced architectural features round
the w indow s and a circular cornice above them , all cleverly shaded
to give th e im pression of m odelled reality.
(e) T O W E R S A N D SPIRES
St .
M a r tin ,
L u d g a te ,
T h is seems unlikely since the nearest corner to N ew gate was th e
north-w est and not the south-w est. It does seem likely th at there
was a connection betw een the church and the d eb to rs’ prison
over L udgate, w hich adjoined the church at the south-w est and
rem ained until the first year of G eorge III. Even if the prisoners
did not enter the church the Rector may have visited his prisonparishioners over the gate by m eans of this door.
1684
O n this site w edged in betw een the garden o f the B ishop’s
Palace and th e C ity wall stood th e m ediaeval ch u rch of St. M artin
w ith a tow er and two porches adjoining the street. T h e fact th at
th e present chu rch is am ong W re n ’s finest works is due to its
rath er late erection. T h is is particularly the case in regard to the
steeple. U sually W re n m ade the transition from the square tow er
to the octagonal spire by the aid o f urns, pinnacles, pineapples or
th e like ornam ent. H ere it is difficult to separate the tow er from the
spire and to decide w hich is th e point o f junction. W e m ay place
it at th e stone cornice th at surm ounts the square portion or at a
few feet above, w here the m asonry gives place to the lead-covered
tim b er stru ctu re. T h e elegant little balcony is unique as are the
tw o large scrolls w hich link th e steeple to the m ain wall o f the church.
St .
M a r g a r e t P a tte n s,
E a stc h e a p ,
1687
T h e south wall is partly built of rubble m asonry from th e
older church and faced w ith red brick. O nly the west end facing
Rood Lane is o f P ortland stone. T h e brickw ork was subsequently
stuccoed and both elevations painted. T h e parish is one of the
sm allest in England, being only 100 yards long and 70 yards wide.
T h e church is of m odest dim ensions from w hich W re n has skilfully
contrived an im pression o f space and dignity. T h e height o f the
steeple is only surpassed in the C ity by those o f St. B ride’s and St.
M ary-le-Bow . It is probable th at the mediaeval church had a lofty
spire and that the parishioners desired that its m em ory should be
preserved. W h e th er this was so or not, the church possesses a
spire m ore nearly approaching the mediaeval type th an any other
designed by W ren. It is octagonal, o f tim ber covered w ith lead.
O nly in the details of the spire lights does any Renaissance feeling
show itself. T h e height o f the spire in relation to the tow er is
unusually great and I have noticed th at artists who have depicted
it have rarely left enough space to render it accurately. T h e west
face is quite flush w ith the wall, b u t this artistic defect is little
apparent owing to the narrow ness of Rood Lane. T h ere is a slight
pilaster-like thickening at all the angles— a m ere projection of about
one and a half inches sufficient to give a subtle interest to the
elevations and leading the eye up to the angle pinnacles w hich
skilfully harm onise w ith the steep sides of the spire and form a
satisfactory ju nction betw een the square and the octagonal form.
W re n while living in Love Lane regularly occupied the canopied
pew at the south-w est end of the nave and his m onogram is inlaid
on the underside of the canopy to record the fact.
St .
D u n s ta n -in -th e -E a s t,
1671-1699
T h e re is a blocked doorw ay at the south-w est to w hich the
sextoness drew m y attention. She says th at C anon G ilbertson, a
form er P resident o f our Society, spoke of a tradition th at condem ned
prisoners were b ro u g h t into th e church th ro u g h this doorw ay on
th e night before th eir execution by way o f an underground passage.
W re n was able at St. D u n sta n ’s to retain m uch o f the o u ter
walls b u t introduced T uscan arcades rather like the effect at
St. Sepulchre’s. T h e walls of the tow er were evidently dem olished
and the W ren tow er and spire were not com pleted till 1699.
T hese are of daring construction, inspired, possibly, by sim ilar
tow ers in the n o rth of England and Scotland. T h e hollow spire
is raised on two intersecting arches, the outw ard th ru st of w hich is
counteracted by lofty pinnacles at their bases on the angles of the
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281
�tow er. T h e w eight o f the spire is fu rth er reduced by openings
in four o f its eight sides. In 1810 th e body of the church had becom e
unsafe and D avid Laing, architect o f the neighbouring C ustom
H ouse, was com m issioned. A ssisted by W illiam T ite, of Royal
Exchange note, he produced a rath er hard b u t w ell-proportioned
and dignified version o f a late m ediaeval church befitting the G othic
natu re o f th e spire.
S t.
B r id e ,
F le e t
S tr e e t,
1680-1700
T h is parish is one o f th e largest in the city and it is natural
th a t th e church should rank am ong W re n 's m ost im portant works.
T h e steeple was not erected until 1700 and therefore em bodied
not only W re n 's genius in design b u t his experience in construction.
N one o f the stone m ediaeval spires contained stairs, b u t here there
are stone stairs, colonnades and entablatures w ith lesser features,
as urns and obelisks, poised at a great height and all calculated to
sway w ith a peal o f bells. T h is is th e highest of W re n ’s steeples,
being 234 ft. as first constructed, and 226 ft. as reconstructed after
being struck by lightning. T h e re is less variety in this spire than
in th a t o f St. M ary-le-B ow , b u t m ore rhythm . T h e transition
from th e tow er to th e spire is perfect from all points of view.
T h e tow er was th e first to have a clock-face illum inated at night in
th e days w hen w atches w ere not com m on. Also it was the first
to hold a com plete peal o f twelve bells, w hich was possible on account
o f th e ancient E truscan principle of construction used to elim inate
o utw ard th ru st.
( /) LA T E CO N TRA STS
St .
M a r g a r e t,
L o th b u r y ,
1690
T h is church consists o f an unobtrusive oblong body w ith the
add itio n o f a south aisle, the tow er being at the south-w est corner.
A t th e south-east is a vestry w ith a library over. If W re n could
re-visit th e ch u rch to-day he w ould be greatly puzzled. A p art
from th e possible presence o f a gallery there are m any changes,
th ree w indow s blocked, the altar raised, a ritual choir, a side chapel
besides m any item s o f fu rn itu re w hich w ould seem strangely
fam iliar. Such item s came from other churches whose parishes
are now included w ith St M arg aret’s. T h e screen is of special
interest, com ing from th e church o f A ll-H allow s the G reat in w hich
th e H anseatic M erchants o f the Steelyard had a side chapel. W h en
C an n o n Street Station was b u ilt and the church there destroyed,
th e screen was saved and finally used in St. M arg aret’s w ith little
alteration.
St . A
ndrew
by
the
W
ardrobe,
1692
T h e design o f this church represents the m aturity of W re n ’s
genius. T h e environm ent of the church was very different then.
A n inlet of the T ham es called P uddle D ock barred the passage of
T ham es Street w est-w ard. T h e River Fleet occupied the site of
N ew Bridge Street and was bordered by wharves w here the coal o f
the m etropolis was landed. Before Q ueen V ictoria Street was
constructed the church was only visible from the narrow lanes and
alleys surrounding the churchyard, the southern edge of w hich
m ust have been held up by a retaining wall like a portion o f St.
B ride’s churchyard to-day.
In this church W re n m ade one of his m ost successful attem pts
to incorporate the gallery in his design. T h e galleries are supported
by piers encased in wood to harm onise w ith th e gallery fronts.
T h e piers supporting the vault have their bases level w ith the gallery
floor and th e vaults spring directly from their sum m its. T h e arches,
therefore, are curved on plan as well as in elevation. T hey are not
so m uch arches as the accidental intersections of th e vaults, w hich
are of plaster on wood laths. A bove is the stru ctu ral roof of great
tim bers, a scientific piece o f carpentry. H ad W re n built a stone
church o f this form the cost w ould have been doubled and the
acoustics ruined.
C O N C L U D IN G N O T E
A t th e tim e w hen the Society changed its title to " T h e St.
P au l’s Ecclesiological Society ” over half a century ago, the city
churches possessed a different aspect and atm osphere. G enerally
speaking they were m uch lighter, as the surrounding buildings
w ere lower and there was m uch less stained glass. T h e y were
furnished w ith high pews, well cushioned and hassocked, the passage
ways betw een being covered w ith coco-nut m atting. T h ey were
w arm ed w ith huge cast iron stoves and lighted w ith gas. T h ere
were, as far back as my recollection goes, no side altars in any of th e
churches, and only in a few cases did com m union tables bear any
ornam ents. T h e com m andm ents were always prom inent above
and were often flanked by paintings of M oses and A aron.
M odern w ork in this church carried out by Bodley, G arner
a n d others has produced an interior of beauty and interest.
Some years later the C ity Parochial C harities C om m issioners
absorbed m ost o f the parochial funds, b u t in order to gild the
pill, the churches were first p u t into structural repair. Electric
light was installed, m arble m osaic pavem ents laid down, seating
re-arranged and walls and ceilings decorated. A t this tim e the
m ost frequented churches were St. E dm und th e King and M artyr
(where C anon Benham drew a " high ” congregation), St. M argaret
Pattens (where Rev. J. L. Fish held services of Jacobite flavour), and
St. N icholas Cole A bbey (where C anon S huttlew orth had crow ded
congregations for his “ high ” services and “ broad serm ons and
le c tu re s” ). Shuttlew orth was the first clergym an, I think, to
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283
�introduce a grand piano into his church. It occupied a prom inent
position u p o n a fine T u rk ey carpet. F ro m this tim e onw ards
churches were opened m ore frequently during the week, a state of
affairs w hich has continued ever since.
ary
W
oolnoth,
L
om bard
Street,
EARLY SUBURBAN
H E church is fam ous by reason of the three stained-glass
w indow s at the e a tt end, the glass o f w hich originally form ed a
single w indow in a convent chapel at M alines. It was b ought for
this church at the instigation of W illem ent in 1841. H e arranged
the glass for the three w indows here, supplying from his own
design the borders to the gallery windows. N o other o f his work
is of such a distinctly Renaissance character as this sixteenthcentury T ree of Jesse. T h e design and the colours are seen best
in th e m orning.
U nfortunately, the figures of A aron and Esaias
at th e bottom left-hand corner had to be slightly curtailed and
also the other unknow n figures at th e right-hand corner. T h e
brow n stain outlining the stem s, leaves and individual grapes has
faded, leaving the purple pot-m etal bunches unduly em phasised.
T
POSTSCRIPT TO W REN
St . M
ST. GEORGE’S CHURCH, HANOVER SQUARE
1720
H E R E w ere few churches in th e area devastated by the
G reat Fire w hich w ere capable o f being repaired. St. M ary
W o o ln o th was one. W re n repaired the body o f the church
a n d th e steeple, b u t found it advisable to rebuild the n o rth wall,
w hich he designed “ in the T u scan m an n er.” T h is hybrid edifice,
partly in th e T u scan style and partly “ G o thick,” only lasted
fifty years. It is quite likely th at W re n had w arned the parishioners
and it m ust have been gratifying th a t the w ork o f rebuilding was
e n tru ste d to his old pupil and assistant, N icholas Hawksm oor.
Probably it was com pleted before W re n died. I like to th in k of
him on one o f his annual visits to his cathedral from his hom e of
retirem en t at H am pton C o u rt, prolonging his route to see his
favourite p u p il’s work. W e can p icture the old m an being helped
u p th e steps, assisted by N icholas, both o f them a little excited.
It w ould be interesting to know th e reactions o f contem porary
critics. P robably Jam es G ibbs th o u g h t the church rather coarse,
lacking th e refined, alm ost fem inine, grace of w hich he was an
exponent. V anbrugh m ust have adm ired the heavily rusticated
m asonry rising course u pon course to bear the som ew hat uncouth
tow ers. A little later H orace W alpole, playing w ith his cem ent
pinnacles and cusps at Straw berry H ill, m ust have th o ught the
stru ctu re hideous.
T
T u rn in g to th e ch urch itself, we are m et by the accom plishm ent
o f a rather inexperienced architect. John Jam es was a pupil of
G ibbs d uring the early years o f the reign o f G eorge I. Jam es
was w orking in a particular variety o f Renaissance w hich derived
from W re n and was fashionable at the tim e. I think th a t the
result com pares favourably w ith m ost other contem poraneous
churches. H is C orinthian portico has six colum ns in front like
those at S . M a rtin ’s-in-the-F ields and St. G eorge's, Bloom sbury.
It is not so deep as either, nor has it the dignity afforded by a flight
o f steps. H e seems to have had some prescience o f the m arriages
to be celebrated here, for not only does the portico span the street
pavem ent, b u t the central inter-colum niation is nearly a yard
w ider than those o f the side colum ns, thus facilitating th e erection
o f tem porary awnings. It is a pity th a t the w estern portion of
M addox Street was not a few yards fu rth er south so th at this portico
could have been well seen from Bond Street. (It is curious th at
we had to wait another h u n d red years before we had a church
w ith a portico term inating a street vista. St. M arylebone was
built w ith its axis n o rth and south in order th a t the portico should
face Y ork G ate. U ntil th e form ation o f T rafalgar Square the
portico o f St. M a rtin ’s could only be seen, foreshortened, in a
narrow lane.)
It is curious th at H aw ksm oor m ade such an im posing west
fro n t w hen one rem em bers th a t in his tim e, and for a century
later, the ch u rch only faced a narrow lane. T h e British M useum
has about tw enty original plans, sections and elevations, all of w hich
th ey attrib u te to H aw ksm oor. T hese show how m uch trouble he
took and how m uch th e executed w ork surpassed the earliest
conception. T h e n o rth front shows one of the finest com positions
o f its kind, a w indow less wall full o f interest and strong yet refined
beauty, a little soot-laden and shut off from the direct sunlight
w hich w ould make its deep recesses and rusticated joints very
effective. Butterfield undertook w ork there in 1875 b u t showed
m ore respect for H aw ksm oor’s w ork than m ight have been
expected from a G othic architect. I recollect th at the walls were
once decorated w ith the double lines o f red ochre used to represent
m asonry join ts th a t he em ployed at St. Cross, W inchester. It is
probable, therefore, th a t some of B utterfield’s w ork has been undone.
T h e steeple o f St. G eorge’s is rath er original and is said to
have been the first to rise from behind a portico. It rises visibly
from a su b stru ctu re of stone form ed by carrying u p the walls
containing the gallery staircases above th e m ain roof. T h e west
wall contains three window s and six em pty niches. Possibly
Jam es never expected them to be filled, for they are shallow and
six was an awkward num ber in those u ltra-P rotestant tim es, w hen
the twelve apostles and the four evangelists provided alm ost the
only selection. T h ere is a flat block at th e sum m it of the pedim ent
w hich it is th o ught was intended for a statue of the king, G eorge I.
284
285
�C om ing to th e interior, we find the difficult m atter of side
galleries has been successfully surm ounted, b u t Jam es and his
contem poraries had all W re n ’s exam ples before their eyes. T h e
fact th a t th e rem oval o f th e galleries w ould spell artistic disaster
is p ro o f th at they are an integral p a rt o f the whole design. T h e
fittings are harm onious, dignified and even sum ptuous. T h e altar
piece o f th e L ast Supper, by Sir Jam es T h o rn h ill, has lost some
o f its original brilliance. T h e present arrangem ent of stalls and
screens is th e w ork o f Sir Reginald Blomfield, who is also responsible
for the designs o f the L ady C hapel and B aptistery. T h e stained
glass in th e w indow o f the L ady C hapel is rem arkable.
T h e first burial ground belonging to this parish was that
w hich now form s th e pleasant recreation ground behind M ount
Street. L ater, a large area o f ground at T y b u rn , ju st n orth of the
O xford road, was acquired and attached to the parish. A nyone
w ho has not visited it should do so. N ot only are there m any
fam ous graves, b u t the chapel has been beautifully fitted up and
is decorated w ith w all-paintings by F rederic Shields, w hich
occupied a large p a rt o f his life.
THE PARISH CHURCH OF ST. JOHN,
HAMPSTEAD
RURAL AND
L A T E R SUBURBAN
E F O R E th e m iddle o f th e eighteenth century th e m ediaeval
ch u rch had becom e a rath er shapeless agglom eration, m uch out
of repair, and was considered u nw orthy o f a village w hich was
th e n quite a fashionable resort. In 1745 the parochial services
were tem porarily transferred to the C hapel of Ease at D ow nshire
H ill and th e old church was com pletely dem olished.
F litcroft, the architect o f St. G iles-in-the-F ields, is said to
have been th e architect o f the H am pstead church, of w hich the
present nave co nstituted th e w hole building. M r. B arrett (author
of th e “ A nnals o f H a m p s te a d ” ) considered this to be an error
and stated th a t a com petition was organised, the w inner being a
local m an nam ed H orns. A t th a t tim e F litcroft was a resident of
H am pstead and was invited to com pete b u t declined. H is interest
as a w orshipper here m ay have induced him to collaborate w ith
H orns to some extent, however.
It is alm ost incredible th a t a
practically unknow n m an could be responsible for this fine interior.
T h e colum ns rise from near th e floor to the ceiling, the gallery
fronts being broken in short lengths by them , and help to su p p o rt
th e galleries b u t take no visible cognisance of th e fact. A nother
illogicality, copied from b o th W re n and G ibbs, is the broken
entablature introduced betw een th e capitals of the colum ns and
th e springing o f the vault.
T h is feature is unnecessary structurally,
is expensive and affords an unapproachable lodgm ent for dust.
T h e ceiling need have been no lower had the entablature been
B
286
om itted, for the colum ns would have been slightly increased in
height and proportionate diam eter. T h e original gallery-fronts
show ed solid wood panels and stood slightly m ore forw ard, as
m ay be seen in a picture by H ogarth.
T h e present chancel and transepts, like the gallery fronts,
date from 1878. T h ere was no central door to the tow er, b u t only
a w indow lighting the vestry, w hich was behind the reredos.
W h e n the enlargem ent o f the ch u rch and th e reversal of its
orientation w ere contem plated, it was intended to dem olish the tower
and build a new one at the west end, b u t a num ber of residents,
strengthened by m any artists, strongly protested. W illiam M orris
was am ong those w ho preferred the som ew hat ungainly tower,
w ith its rather absurd battlem ents, to any new design. T h a t
M orris was a " G othic m an ” makes his plea for th e o th er the
m ore interesting. T h e green copper spire of H am pstead had been
for several generations alm ost as conspicuous as th at of H arrow
and form ed a picturesque term ination to the vista of C h u rch Row.
T h e authorities bow ed to the protest and the arrangem ent of the
ch u rch as to orientation and plan is alm ost unique in London.*
T h e re was probably another controversy before the new designs
were settled. W h en th e church was rebuilt in th e seventeenth
century a part o f the funds was raised by the sale o f sittings in
p erp etu ity at £50 each. T h e new pews faced the other way
round, so th a t the first becam e last and th e last first. T h e num ber
o f sittings was increased by the addition of galleried transepts
and, doubtless, this helped tow ards a solution. T h e design o f
th e new w ork was entru sted to F rederick Cockerell, an architect
w ho was willing and able to w ork in harm ony w ith the older
edifice. W ar-tim e conditions obscured one of th e m ost attractive
features o f his w ork; the M orning C hapel as seen th ro u g h the
transeptal arch in com parative shade, for the circular ceiling light
o f the chapel was, of course, covered.
Externally, Cockerell accepted th e m ain lines of the nave,
b u t used dressings of P o rtland stone m ore freely, and em phasised
the sanctuary by a balustraded parapet o f rather unusual design,
in place o f th e plain brick parapet of the nave. T h e natural fall
o f the ground outside and the raised floor of the chancel w ithin,
enabled him to form a sort o f open crypt to enclose th e coffins and
graves displaced or built over. T h e additional height of wall makes
th e west end very effective and dignified, and I particularly adm ire
the elevation of the south tran sep t w ith its well proportioned
doorw ay approached by a flight o f sem i-circular steps and th e
reticent treatm en t of th e wall surface and the lunette.
Shortly after the com pletion o f these works M r. A lfred Bell,
a parishioner, o f th e firm of C layton and Bell, designed th e rich
* T he altar o f St. Thom as’s Church, Camden Town, is in an apse at the
west end; the tower is central. Towers at St. Botolph, Aldgate, and at Bishopsgate
are at the east ends, but the altar o f the former church has always been at the north.
287
�decorations o f th e nave. T hese consist chiefly o f cherubs' heads
and texts in a setting o f Renaissance ornam ent. T h e pendentives
o f the crossing represent th e four archangels, w hile above are
angels and a text. T h e effect was very rich, b u t our L ondon
atm osphere has m arred it considerably. M r. Bell’s firm executed
all th e stained window s except a small one inserted in the n orth
transept.
T h e w indow s are brilliant in design and form an
harm onious series, th e th ird from th e west on the n o rth gallery
being a personal m em orial to Sir G ilbert Scott, w ho at one tim e
lived in Frognal and was M r. Bell's old m aster.
Prof. Ellis W ooldridge decorated th e chancel and the M orning
C hapel. T h e stalls, w ith th eir rich intarsia work, w ere designed
by Sir T hom as Jackson. I know nothing of their kind finer in
L ondon. Jackson was also responsible for the organ case and the
new font. T h e reredos in th e chancel resem bles th a t form erly
at th e east end. I surm ise th a t it is partly of the old oak, worked up.
In 1911 T em p le M oore, th en living in W ell W alk, designed
the spacious vestries and arranged the M orning Chapel. A fter
his d eath th e w ork was com pleted by M r. Leslie M oore. T h e
reredos fram es a fine replica o f a p ainting by F ra L ippo Lippi.
T h e C arolean oak balusters in and about the chapel are probably
relics o f the form er church.
SUMMARY OF REPORTS
FO R T H E YEARS
1943
TO
1946
T h e following L ectures were given and Visits made.
1943.
L ectu res
A t 6 Queen Square, Holborn.
Jan.
9.
Feb. 13.
English Colleges o f C h antry Priests, by Prof. A. H am ilton
T hom pson.
C hurch B uilding in A frica, by the Rev. R. Park.
M iss D . Tickell also spoke on D ornakal C athedral.
M ar. 13.
T h e Earliest C hristian C hurches in Rom e and Italy,
by C. A . R. R adford, Esq.
A pr. 10. English C hurches o f the V ictorian Era, by B. A. P.
W in to n Lewis, Esq.
Ju n e 26.
C ongregational C hurches o f the L ondon D istrict, by
E. W . T alb o t, Esq.
July 24.
A nim al C arvings in B ritish C hurches, by M iss M . D .
A nderson.
A t S t. M artin s School o f A rt, Charing Cross Road.
O ct.
“ I f any who peruse these published reminiscences shall derive
from them hints and information worth remembering, or i f they shall
gain fo r me one good, m an’s favourable opinion or confirm one
estimable frien d ’s or acquaintance’s regard, I shall not have journeyed
or written in vain.”
— T. Francis Bumpus, '‘ Cathedrals and Churches of the Rhine.”
2.
N ov. 6.
D ec.
C h u rch B uilding from the Cape to Cairo, by Sir H erb ert
Baker.
St. Sophia, Istanbul, by C lifton Kelway, Esq.
4. R avenna and its M osaics, by D . C hisholm Simpson, Esq.
Visits
A ug. 14. St. M ary-le-B one C hurch and O ld St. M arylebone
Chapel, by John Sum m erson, Esq.
A ug. 28. St. M ary, P addington G reen, th e C atholic A postolic
C hurch, M aida H ill, and St. M ary M agdalen,
Paddington, by B. A. P. W in to n Lewis, Esq.
Sept. 18. St. L eo n ard ’s, St. C h a d ’s and St. C olum ba’s C hurches,
Shoreditch, by F . H . M ansford, Esq.
238
289
�1944.
1945. Visits
Ju n e 30. Southw ark C athedral, by the Rev. C anon T . P. Stevens.
L ectu res
A t St. M a rtin ’s School o f A rt.
Jan.
8.
G uildford C athedral, b y E dw ard M aufe, Esq.
July 28.
K ingston-upon-T ham es (Parish C hurch, C oronation
Stone, etc.), by D r. W . E. St. Law rence Finny.
Jan. 15.
Ely C athedral, by A. J. M ason, Esq.
F eb.
F o n t Covers, by A . G . R. Buck, Esq.
A ug. 11.
St. M ary ’s C hurch, and the C h u rch of the Sacred H eart,
W im bledon, by the Rev. H . M attinson.
Feb. 19.
T h e E ast E nds o f E nglish C hurches. D iscussion opened
by F. H . M ansford, Esq.
Sept. 8.
St. G eorge’s C hapel, W in d so r, by W . A. F orsyth, Esq.
M ar. 4.
Surrey C hurches, by th e Rev. C. K. F. Brown.
Sept. 29.
Some of the Bom bed C hurches of the C ity of L ondon,
by T h e F riends of the C ity C hurches.
A p r.
1.
R ecollections o f W . Butterfield and H . W oodyer, by
H arry R edfern, Esq.
O ct. 27.
T h e H ouses o f Parliam ent, by the Rt. H on. L o rd N athan.
M ay
6.
N ew m an as an E ducationalist, by J. L. M ay, Esq.
N ov. 10.
Jam es Brooks’s C hurches in N o rth -E ast L ondon, by
W . W . Begley, Esq.
T h e Surroundings o f St. P au l’s C athedral— A N ational
W a r M em orial, by W . H . A nsell, Esq.
1946.
5.
Ju n e 17.
Visits
A p r. 29, C hurches o f th e A nnunciation, Bryanston
and St. Peter, V ere Street, by B.
W in to n Lew is, Esq.
Square
A.
P.
Jan.
L ectu res
* A t St. M a rtin ’s School o f A rt.
12. L ancing College C hapel, by B. W . T . H andford, Esq.
M ar. 6.
T h e C hurches o f V ictorian London, by J.S um m erson, Esq.
M ay 11.
T h e M usician and the A rchitect, by Sir S. H . N icholson.
Sept. 21.
A t Archbishop Davidson Institute, Lambeth.
T h e A nthem — its history and justification, by the Rev.
T . H . Croxall.
O ct.
C hristian Rom e, by D . C hisholm Sim pson, Esq.
June 10. A ll Hallows, T w ickenham , by F . R. T aylor, Esq.
July 15.
H am p to n C o u rt Palace, by E dw ard Yates, Esq.
Sept. 16.
St. N icholas, Chiswick, by F. R. T aylor, Esq.
1945.
L ectu res
O ct. 19.
3.
M ar. 24.
C rypts, by D . C hisholm Sim pson, Esq.
Jo h n M ason N eale— an E nglish W o rth y , by D .
M urray, Esq.
T h e Face of C hrist in A rt, by M rs. A. R. H atley.
N ov. 6.
A t S t. M a rtin ’s School o f A rt.
M ar.
2.
T h e A daptation of Parish C hurches as C athedrals, by
Sir C. A . N icholson.
N ov. 23.
F rench R om anesque Sculpture, by A. G ardner, Esq.
St. D avid’s C athedral, by F. D arw in Fox, Esq.
L.
A p r. 28.
L incoln C athedral, by A . J. M ason, Esq.
D ec.
Ju n e 23.
T h e F u tu re o f the E nglish Bible, by T . F . F ord, Esq.
D ec. 21.
July 14.
T h e C raftsm an and th e F o n t, by
H . L. M ann, Esq.
Southwell M inster, by H . L. M ann, Esq.
Visits
5. W esley’s Chapel and H ouse, C ity Road, E .C ., by the
Rev. G . A. V ernon.
Sept. 22.
In and about th e Village C hurch,
O ct. 20.
J. F . R edfern— Sculptor (1838-76), by Prof. C . C. J.
W eb b .
Jan. 26.
T h e H ouses o f Parliam ent, by John R. Battley, Esq., M .P .
N ov. 17.
Salisbury C athedral, by W . A. Forsyth, Esq.
F eb.
2.
St.
D ec.
T h e N ative E lem ent in C h u rch B uilding w ithin the
fields o f th e L on d o n M issionary Society, by
M rs. A. R. H atley.
M ar.
2.
St. A ndrew ’s, Plaistow, by F . H enley, Esq., and W est
H am Parish C hurch, by R. S. M orris, Esq.
W ells C athedral, by A. J. M ason, Esq.
A p r.
6.
St. M a ry ’s C hurch and All Hallows C hurch, T w ickenham .
8.
D ec. 22.
290
by T . A . Coysh, Esq.
Jan.
4.
Paul’s C ovent G arden, and St. M ary-le-Strand,
by the Rev. V. Howson.
291
�1946.
Visits (cont.)
M ay 25.
T h e In d ep en d en t M eeting H ouse, M arsh Street C ongre
gational C hurch, and St. M ary 's Parish C hurch,
W altham stow , by M rs. A . R. Hatley.
A ug. 17.
Kew Parish C h u rch and Kew G reen, by M iss M . S.
Johnson.
Also, St. M ichael, Chisw ick (the
Rev. T . H . Croxall).
Sept.
7.
St. A ugustine, K ilburn Park Road, by W . W . Begley, Esq.
O ct.
5.
Parish C h u rch , Chigw ell School, and “ K ing’s H ead ”
Inn, Chigw ell, by A. Fellows, Esq.
N ov. 2.
St. P au l’s C h u rch and St. N icholas C hurch, D eptford,
by T . F. F o rd , E sq., and B. R. Leftw ich, Esq.
Dec.
T h e L ondon M osque, Southfields, by the Im am o f the
M osque.
7.
T h e A n n u a l C o m m e m o r a tio n S erv ice, w ith a special rem em
brance o f past m em bers, was held each year. In 1943, in the C hurch
o f AU Saints, M argaret Street, th e Serm on was preached by the
D ean o f St. P au l’s (P resident o f th e Society) and after the Service
M r. J. N . C om per gave a description o f the C h u rch and its history.
In 1944 the Rev. E. T . T h o rn to n preached in the C h u rch of St. George,
Bloom sbury, an account o f w hich was given by J.N . Sum m erson, Esq.
N ex t year, St. Bartholom ew the G reat, Sm ithfield, was the scene,
w hen th e L o rd Bishop o f K ensington preached the Serm on and
D r. Rose G raham described the C hu rch . In 1946 the Service, at
th e C h u rch o f St. M ary th e V irgin, L am beth, was conducted by
th e R ector, th e Rev. H . H edley, and th e Serm on was preached by
D r. D . H . S. C ranage. F ro m 1944 onw ards th e Service was
sung by th e augm ented choir o f St. A lban, G olders G reen,
u n d er the direction o f E. B. G lanfield, Esq.
T ransaction s.
as follows :—
R ep resen tation . In 1944, the Royal Society of A rts set up a
W a r M em orials A dvisory Council, the Ecclesiological Society being
one o f th e constituent bodies, w ith M r. J. D . D aym ond as its
representative. In the following year the Society accepted rep re
sentation on th e L ondon Regional C om m ittee o f the B ritish Council
for A rchaeology and has three representatives, also a seat on the
N ational C om m ittee.
T h e Society is represented on the Councils o f th e L ondon
Society, the Friends o f the C ity C hurches, and the L ondon and
M iddlesex Archaeological Society.
M e m b e r sh ip figures in these years are not very reliable owing
to w ar conditions. A t the end of 1943 the total stood at 225,
increasing to 275 by the end of 1946.
T h e L aw s of the Society were revised at the A nnual G eneral
M eeting in 1944.
T h e C ouncil has for som e tim e felt that the present rates of
subscription are inadequate, having regard to the increased cost o f
printing and postage. It also considers th a t the entrance fee should
be raised. R ecom m endations on these subjects will accordingly
be subm itted to an A nnual G eneral M eeting.
T h e Council regrets th at after acting for m ore th an tw enty
years as H onorary T reasu rer to the Society, M r. E d w a r d Y a t e s
has found it necessary to relinquish th at office. His services will
be greatly missed.
T h e C ouncil is sure th at m em bers will wish
to record their great appreciation of his work.
Parts o f Vol. 1 (N ew Series) have been issued
P art II.
“ E nglish Colleges o f C h an try P riests," by Prof. A.
H am ilton T h o m p so n , in 1943.
P art III.
“ T h e C ontin u ity o f th e English T ow n ” in 1944 (the
L ectures given in th e course of an Exhibition of
th at nam e in 1943).
P art IV.
“ St. N icholas, D e p tfo rd ," in 1946.
292
293
�B A T T L E Y BRO TH ERS L IM IT E D
T
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��
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Architecture and Place
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Humanist Library and Archives
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2016
Description
An account of the resource
A collection of digitised items from the Humanist Library and Archives telling the story of buildings and spaces occupied by the Conway Hall Ethical Society (formerly the South Place Ethical Society). Also includes several born digital items.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Conway Hall Ethical Society
Subject
The topic of the resource
Architecture
Conway Hall (London, England)
South Place Chapel, Finsbury
Mansford, Frederick Herbert (1871-1946)
Language
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English
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Book
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The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Frederick Herbert Mansford; citizen and architect of London: selection from his papers
Description
An account of the resource
The Ecclesiological Society Transactions, vol. 1 (new series), part 5.
Creator
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Mansford, Frederick Herbert (1871-1946)
Contributor
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Begley, W. W.
Landau, Dorothy
Publisher
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The Ecclesiological Society
Date
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1947
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© J. Sally Spencer and the Dyer family. Digitised with their kind permission.
Identifier
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G1052
920 MAN
Subject
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Architecture
Churches
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application/pdf
Type
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Text
Language
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English
London
Mansford, Frederick Herbert (1871-1946)
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PDF Text
Text
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The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Victorian Blogging
Description
An account of the resource
A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library & Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes.<br /><br />Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk.<br /><br /><span><img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /></span>
Creator
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Conway Hall Library & Archives
Date
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2018
Publisher
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Conway Hall Ethical Society
Text
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text.
Original Format
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Pamphlet
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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The Abbey of Saint Alban, some extracts from its early history and a dedication of its conventional church
Description
An account of the resource
Edition: 3rd ed.
Place of publication: London; Saint Albans
Collation: [10], 98 p. ; 22 cm.
Notes: Includes prefaces to the first and second editions. Intended chiefly for the use of visitors to the Abbey. From the library of Dr Moncure Conway. Printed by Whittingham and Wilkins, Chancery Lane, London. Includes list of original manuscripts and printed histories.
Creator
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Nicholson, Henry Joseph Boone
Publisher
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Bell and Daldy
William Langley
Date
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1870
Identifier
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G5168
Subject
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Churches
History
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<a href="http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/"><img src="http://i.creativecommons.org/p/mark/1.0/88x31.png" alt="Public Domain Mark" /></a><span> </span><br /><span>This work (The Abbey of Saint Alban, some extracts from its early history and a dedication of its conventional church), identified by </span><a href="https://conwayhallcollections.omeka.net/items/show/www.conwayhall.org.uk"><span>Humanist Library and Archives</span></a><span>, is free of known copyright restrictions.</span>
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application/pdf
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Text
Language
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English
Cathedrals
Conway Tracts
St Albans Cathedral
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PDF Text
Text
THE
COURT SUBURB MAGAZINE.
DECEMBER, 1868.
KENSINGTON
CHURCH.
Some one has said that “ the next best thing to being a beauty, is to be regularly
ugly! ” Could our old church, old enough to be sinking into decay, yet not old
enough to be quite venerable, have had a voice in the subject of its own erection,
it must certainly have decided on being—regularly ugly. As in humanity, how
ever, it app ;ars insensible of its own want of charms, and has surrounded itself
with a garland of green beauty, in the shape of a thoroughly picturesque
churchyard.
There is much to interest eye and heart in this “ God’s acre,” as our Saxon
fathers would have called it; much to awaken thought and emotion, though it
stands in the midst of buying and selling, amid the money changers, not near
the sellers of doves truly, but with noise and tumult, and disorder around.
At first we are shocked at the rough echoes of busy life, which are borne
over the quiet sleepers; we should feel happier if the public house were removed,
and the dealers in fish, vegetables, &c., obliged to pitch their tents a little
farther from the scene where so many lie, who have entered into that silent
kingdom which gives a kind of majesty to the meanest.
Still there is another phase in which we may take this mingling of those
who rest from their labors with the many moving in the throng of life’s market,
exchange, and strife! Perhaps the dead seem thus less put aside and forgotten,
less removed from human interests and sympathies. Are not the slumberers
lying so close to us something like the ancestor reverently embalmed in the fine
linen of Egypt, to whom the best chamber of the mansion was allotted among
certain nations of antiquity ? Are they not a little like those who filled funereal
urns in the dwellings that had been their own, where, enshrined as tutelary
spirits, they became the Penates of the household ?
But to return to the church. According to old records, there appears to
have existed a temple for Christian worship in this spot as far back as when
Doomsday Book was compiled, and probably there had been one far earlier in
the older times. We may conjecture what it was like, and fairly presume that
VOL. I.
H
�100
KENSINGTON CHURCH.
it was more picturesque than our present church of St. Mary Abbot’s; by the
by, the name is a vestige of its old connexion, as it appears to have once Ren
a dependence of the abbots of Abingdon, Berks.
After the Reformation, the rectory, or right of tythes, &c., appears to have
been farmed by various individuals, and, in Elizabeth’s reign, an enterprising
lady, (who, if she had lived now, would certainly have voted for female emanci
pation), held the same on a long lease ! The covenant of tenure was drawn up
in Latin, so we may gather that the lady was learned, as well as clever,
practically, for she was too good a woman of business, this Elizabeth Snow, to
have signed her name to a blind bargain.
When Charles the First closed his unhappy career, the tythes of Kensington
were again in female hands, those of the Countess of Mulgrave, and another
lady, the Dowager Countess of Holland, was patroness of the vicarage. Here
were women who had a conception of harder work than voting! We wonder
whether the one always exacted the last mite of her tythes, or sometimes
relented, when there was a deficit in first fruits : we wonder if the other was a
woman of nice judgment, who would choose a vicar for his piety, worth, and
learning, or for his fluent, silvery speech!
Retracing our steps, we find an interesting character connected with
Kensington, one Sebastian Harris, who suffered persecution for the truth in
1527. The royal despot then reigning, predestined eventually to do a great and
good deed, had not yet made up his mind to strike the axe straight to the heart
of the old superstitions ; it was still dangerous to have the lamp of the Holy
Scriptures in one’s house. Sebastian Harris, in the midst of the gross darkness
and error which surrounded him, possessed a Bible in his mother tongue,
probably he could not have understood it in its old garb, for Gerard Erasmus
had not yet made learning the fashion ; Sebastian, perhaps, had only Latin. We
are not plainly told whether he had received the light, but we may gather that
he had, for he added to the first crime of Bible reading, that of holding a hereti
cal volume, entitled “ Unio Dissidentium.” We fear that this poor Kensington J
curate was more of a student than a bold, brave man, ready to stand and battle
for the truth. Is does not appear that he resisted to the death, as stronger
hearts afterwards did, in fighting against ecclesiastical tyranny and corrupt
practice. He seems to have succumbed to his superiors, and humbly stood, or
knelt, in old St. Paul’s, vowing neither to read, lend, or sell the heretical
books, and ever more to abjure intercourse with any man holding the damn able
doctrines of the arch-apostate, Luther. Furthermore, poor Sebastian, when
thus humbled, must have suffered a further degradation, for he was banished
from London for a certain season, and deprived of his curacy.
Edward the Sixth was patron of Kensington, and, under him, the vicar
‘
enjoyed a revenue of £18. a year, which, even considering the different value of
money in the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries, was not a very rich living.
It is noticeable, that when, shortly after the Reformation, an inventory was
made of the property of the parish church here,; it was pretty long, and contained a
great variety of articles, but if we remember rightly, among them all there were '-'only three or four books. We are glad to find that a commentary, by Erasmus,,)®
was among them, which shows that bolder men than Sebastian Harris had’ 1
sprung up.
g|j
�KENSINGTON CHURCH.
101
A very interesting, though imperfect account is to be found of an archdeacon’s visitation of this parish, as far back as the year 1612. If visitations
were made in a similar spirit, and with the same scrupulous attention, now-aMays, among all our churches, how much childish nonsense, and how many ugly
excrescences might be swept away I How much of yet uglier controversy, and
how many quarrels, between rectors and churchwardens, and congregations!
The visitation, however, contains what would seem strange matter in our
day, a curious intermeddling with private concerns, which would ill agree with
our present notions.
Among the vicars of Kensington, we find the deservedly famous divine and
scholar, Dr. Jortin, a Frenchman, if a man may truly claim his father’s nation
ality, but an Englishman, a thorough Englishman, in mind and character.
A life of success, promising a great posthumous reputation, closed as calmly
as a serene day in Autumn. Among his last words were some most pithy sen
tences : on being offered refreshment by his nurse, he quietly answered, “ No,
, I have had enough of everything! ” He said, with regard to the publication of
his sermons, “ Let them sleep till I sleep! ”
Dr. Jortin lies buried in “ God’s-acre ” of Kensington Parish, a parish he
loved so well as to refuse a richer living that he might live and die amid scenes
that had become endeared to him by long association. The epitaph on his
tombstone is beautiful and. striking; on such a day, not he died, but
“ Mortalis esse desiit.”
St. Mary Abbot’s may be said to have gone through a series of buildings
and pullings down and buildings again, and rendings and repairings, and
crackings and shoreings up, and patchings of all kinds, since the year 1683; it
seems to have suffered the fate of the garment mentioned in Scripture, to have
received the new piece upon the old material and had the rent made worse!
All the attempts made to repair and fortify the building have been signal
failures. We are forced to arrive at the conclusion that we must begin the
work again by laying firm foundation stones for an edifice commensurate in
some measure to the purpose for which it is intended, commensurate to the
wealth of our community, and not so humble a temple as to be put to shame by
the princely private dwellings around us. If we build a Christian church in
offlxjnidst, in any way corresponding to our luxurious secular surroundings,
we should endow Kensington, the fairest suburb of London, with a magnificent
cathedral. Why should we not attempt great things ? Why should we not
do them ?
We have our magnificent Park and Gardens, such as no other European
city owns; we have our Italian Winter Garden, laid out at immense cost;
our Hall of Art and Science rising; the magnificent Memorial of the good
Prince growing month by month; and the private houses of wealthy individuals,
so luxurious as almost to make them forget their immortality.
“ Shall we be as the dregs of the people?” said old John of Gaunt,
lamenting that his countrymen were destitute of Scripture in their own tongue,
while others possessed the inestimable advantage he coveted for them. “ Shall
we be as the dregs of the people?” May we not say, shall we be the only
larish content to let our old church stand as long as it will stand, a helpless
�102
KENSINGTON CHURCH.
invalid supported on crutches, and finally falling around us, perhaps over
whelming a host of worshippers in its fall!
Will it not be comparatively easy to rear a new and magnificent church?
The only thing wanting must be time: we shall surely all come forward with
free-will offerings for so noble a work.
Suppose the old church razed, the new one in course of erection, reverent
care being had to disturb no sacred dust sleeping beneath, and to suffer no de
secrating finger to impair the monuments, for even those that boast little
beauty have an interest. There is the memorial of the last Earl of Warwick
and Holland of the Rich family. The figure seated, leaning against an urn, and
clad in a Roman toga, appears to represent the last of a race founded by a
successful goldsmith; the epitaph states the mournfully abrupt close of the line,
and the rather feminine, yet haughty face of the monumental statue, has a sort
of defiant air which appears to challenge a contradiction.
There is a marble tablet near the font, surmounted by an urn, and bearing
an inscription, at once pious and sensible; it is in memory of one John Hall,
“ For those who remember him, that name was his best epitaph; to others it
may be useful to record, that he was one who in life by good works and by
fervent faith in death, proved that the source of virtue is in the love of God.”
“ Oh friend in life’s alternate season tried!
Who liv’d for all, for all too early died:
Fond nature weeps that here thy prospects fade,
And death debars thee from the long sought shade,
But faith reflects, to thee on Earth was given
To toil and suffer, thou hast rest in Heaven.’”
Dull and homely lines enough, according to our present standard of taste;
but what feeling heart can be other than touched by so artless a tribute to
virtue and piety.
On a marble slab, on the East wall of the church, without, there is a
pleasing epitaph to James Elphinstone; how perfect a man, if he truly deserved
the following—“ His manners, though polished, were simple; his integrity
was undeviating; he was a great scholar, and a real Christian. Jortin,
Franklin, and Johnson were in the number of his friends!” But better still:;
if the last few words had been his sole epitaph, they would have told all I
An individual had been buried in this same ground three hundred years
back, whose life was a sad contrast to this gentle scholar’s, one John Meutis,
who had made a sort of contract with the then king, by which he was formally^
in a written deed, forgiven and absolved from all outlawry and all other conse
quences, neglects, contempts, concealments, conspiracies, extortions, murders,
and whatsoever othew felonies and enormities he may have been guilty of I ”
Here lies a man who bears the singular name of Sir Manhood Penruddock,
he was slain in a combat, of what kind does not appear, though we may fairly
suppose it was in some quarrelsome fray, in which he had resolved to show
himself worthy of the name his sponsors had bestowed upon him, either in ad-,
monition, or in prophecy.
J
Near the principal gate lies buried a son of that good divine, Bislioffl
Watson, who, from the lowly position of an obscure schoolmaster, made himseffi
not only a prelate but a man of honorable reputation.
�MY ARGOSY.
103
Mrs. Inchbald’s grave is in the north-west corner of Kensington Churchyard: a woman of great personal beauty and of yet greater fascination;
authoress of some charming comedies, “ Every one has his Fault,” “ Such
things are,” “ Lover’s Vows,” &c. &c.; but whose reputation chiefly rests
upon a little novel, “ The Simple Story,” which is, in fiction, as sweet and deli
cate as the lily-of-the-valley among flowers.
fc The two Colmans, dramatists, also sleep here, the elder had the honor of
writing in partnership with Garrick “ The Clandestine Marriage.”
Not far off lie the mortal remains of Spofforth, the composer of sweetly
accorded glees, who died at an early age, but had certainly lived a good deal
in his brief span of life; a good deal in feeling if not in action; living not as a
peri on sweet scents, but on sweet sounds.
A young son of George Canning, the Statesman, is here buried; a few
lines testify to the youth’s worth and the father’s tender regret; the verses have
been called artificial, but there is nothing to lead us to suppose them insincere;
they have a smoothness of numbers and a scholarly elegance about them which
we cannot help admiring, despite their being of that old-world versification
which is too fast becoming obsolete.
Among the grass-grown graves rises the head-stone of Bianchi, a com
poser of reputation, who had “ a heart of that fine frame ” that he died of grief
for the death of a beloved child.
F.
MY ARGOSY.
The merchandise upon the waves is cast,
The cordage droops above each broken mast,
The sails are rent, and shivering in the blast I
My argosy comes back!
It hath been roaming o’er a troubled sea,
And wave and sky, their fury setting free,
Have spent their wrath upon it; thus to me
My argosy comes back.
What say the captain and the sailor bold ?
“ It is ill sailing, skies are drear and cold.
The anchor’s dropped, so let it safely hold.”
My argosy comes back.
It brings no fruit for years of toil and strife,
No precious thing to soften rugged life,
No seeds of unborn hopes with joyance rife.
My argosy comes back.
Yet go thou forth once more upon the main,
Yet go thou forth, dare wave and rock again!
Hope and high courage pilot not in vain!
Go forth my argosy!
E.
Kensington.
�104
THE HISTORY OF A WOMAN’S HEART.
By the Author of “ Anne Sherwood."
$ '
,
_______
Part the Second.
CHAPTER XXVI.
A REAL ADVENTURE, AND MORE DREAMS.
I had no friends in London, I could not have been more alone in the world
had I really come to ask permission to win my bread.
My parents had had no near relatives, and had been for many years cut off
from all former connexions, or acquaintance with the great city. I had, con
sequently, nothing to expect in the way of companionship.
I tried to banish this idea of loneliness, and, as I was young, my mind was
naturally somewhat touched with an interest and curiosity which went beyond
the great dome and the spectral horse.
The day after my arrival in London, I arose with the full determination to
proceed methodically to work, and begin my inspection of objects about which
I knew as little as I did of the Sahara. Dear reader, I, poor little country
maiden, did not know then that sight-seeing was vulgar; I fancy that many
people, in my position in life, do not yet know that great fact!
I went out, intending to go to the National Gallery, but a more deeply in
teresting London sight was reserved for me first.
A ragged urchin stopped me on the road, and deluded me into a baker's
shop, and then into a wretched cellar in Drury Lane, where his mother lay
dying in consumption, and his sistei- was making what they call “ slop work ”
shirts, at two pence halfpenny a piece 1
The woman had a hectic cheek and glittering eye: she was not absolutely
confined to bed by her disease; no, only kept there by cold, the cold which
pinched her daughter’s red fingers while she worked.
Poor mother! The heavy mangle which rested in the comer had been her
death, her slow and sure death ; dragging round the handle hour after hour, day
after day, month after month, year after year, to give her children bread.
At last the weak arms could drag the load no more, and dropped down,
helpless, dying, and the family had to live on the girl’s work, till at last the
mother had sent out her youngest born to get a few pence, as he could; he was
to sweep a crossing: but the boy was eight years old, the broom was heavy,
perhaps he really lost it, as he said, when he fell asleep on the door step.
So the child took to begging, and in time the Arab of the street learnt to
play pitch and toss, and the petty gambling too often diverted the halfpence
that should have been carried to his mother.
But the boy vagrant had still a heart, and Arab though he had grown, he
determined, when he saw tears on his mother’s cheek, that he would help her ;
his first attempt to do that, was to pick my pocket!
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Victorian Blogging
Description
An account of the resource
A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library & Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes.<br /><br />Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk.<br /><br /><span><img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /></span>
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Conway Hall Library & Archives
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2018
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Conway Hall Ethical Society
Text
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text.
Original Format
The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data
Pamphlet
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Kensington Church
Description
An account of the resource
Place of publication: [s.l.]
Collation: [99]-103 p. ; 22 cm.
Notes: From the library of Dr Moncure Conway. From the Court Suburb Magazine, Vol. 1, December 1868. Article signed F.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
[s.n.]
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1868
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
G5565
Subject
The topic of the resource
Churches
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<p class="western"><img src="http://i.creativecommons.org/p/mark/1.0/88x31.png" alt="Public Domain Mark" /><br />This work (Kensington Church), identified by <span style="color:#0000ff;"><span lang="zxx"><u>Humanist Library and Archives</u></span></span>, is free of known copyright restrictions.</p>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
application/pdf
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Language
A language of the resource
English
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
[Unknown]
Conway Tracts
Kensington Church