Tag: Anglican church

One of the best furnished churches in London

St Augustine of Canterbury, Langdon Park Road, London N6 5QG

“One of the best furnished churches in London”, said the Poet Laureate Sir John Betjeman (1906–84) about the north-London Anglican church of St. Augustine of Canterbury. The church is a Grade-II-listed building that faces the Archway Road, just north of the distinctive bridge spanning that road – created in 1813 by John Nash (1752-1835) – and from which the name of the road and the surrounding district is derived.

St Augustine of Canterbury church, Archway Road, seen from the Archway bridge, looking north, 2006.
Location of St Augustine-of-Canterbury church, Highgate,London N6 5QG
Junction of Highgate Hill and Archway Road (John Hill, 1770-1850)
Bridge (1813) over the Archway Road, designed by John Nash. as seen before its replacement in 1897.
Bridge (1897-1900) over the Archway Road, by Sir Alexander Binnie.

The church as we see it today was created in several stages during the late 19th and early 20th centuries by three architects: John Dando Sedding (1838–91), Henry Wilson (1864–1934), J. Harold Gibbons (1878-1958). It is a distinctive mix of late Victorian Gothic and early twentieth-century Arts and Craft styles.

Church of St Augustine of Canterbury, Highgate, London. The west front as seen in 2016.
The church of St Augustine of Canterbury, the completed west front c.1975. (Source: Sanders, 1975).
John Dando Sedding (1838-91), 1882, by H. S. Mendelssohn (1847-1908).
The church of St Augustine of Canterbury, the interior c.1975. (Source: Sanders, 1975).
The church of St Augustine of Canterbury, the selected design by J. D. Sedding. (Source: Sanders, 1975).
The church of St Augustine of Canterbury, the ground plan, as envisaged (c1887) by the architect J. D Sedding. (Source: Paul Bell, 2012).
The church of St Augustine of Canterbury, the ground plan, as envisaged (1914) by the architect J. Henry Gibbons. (Source: Paul Bell, 2012).
The church of St Augustine of Canterbury, the selected design by J. D. Sedding. (Source: Sanders, 1975).
The church of St Augustine of Canterbry, Highgate, Lolndon. Unbuilt design proposal by James Brooks. (The Building News, 13 February 1888)
West-front Calvary, the church of St Augustine of Canterbury, Highgate, London (UK)

The foundation stone of the new church was laid in 1887 and the part-finished buidling was consecrated in 1888, the next stage of work being undertaken by Henry Wilson, one of Sedding’s pupils. However, the west front was not completed until Easter 1914, the work of J. Harold Gibbons. The west front is adorned with a life-size stone Calvary, which led to a noisy Protestant demonstration seeking to stop the dedication of the church later that same year; 20 June 1914.

The church of St Augustine of Canterbury, a view of the nave detroyed by fire. (Source: Paul Bell, 2012).
The church of St Augustine of Canterbury, a view of the nave detroyed by fire. (Source: Paul Bell, 2012).

A disastrous fire on the night of 11 January 1924 entirely destroyed the nave and required a major programme of rebuilding, which was undettaken by J. Harold Gibbons. It was at this time he added the 2-bay  organ gallery on the south side of the chancel, and a new Sacristy.

The current pipe organ dates from 1925-6, and was built by the London firm of A. Hunter and Sons of Clapham (London UK). The atractive case – designed by J. H. Gibbons – dominates the south side of the chancel. Although the instrument has remained incomplete for lack of funds it serves well, and sounds impressive in the generous acoustic.

Musicians gallery with organ case by J. H. Gibbons in the church of St Augustine of Canterbury, Highgate, London N6. (Source: London Churches in Photographs)
Programme for an organ-recital by George Thalben-Ball, St Augustine’s church Highgate, London on 25 October 1975. [page3/3]
Console of the organ by A. Hunter and Sons (1924) in the church of St Augustine of Canterbury, Highgate, London N6. (Source: National Pipe Organ Register)
Organ case by J. H. Gibbons in the church of St Augustine of Canterbury, Highgate, London N6. (Source: London Churches in Photographs)
Programme for an organ-recital by George Thalben-Ball, St Augustine’s church Highgate, London on 25 October 1975. [page2/3]
Programme for an organ-recital by George Thalben-Ball, St Augustine’s church Highgate, London on 25 October 1975. [page1/3]

The church contains some fine fittings, artworks and stained glass by – among others – Henry Farmer (fl. early c20), Lawrence King (1907-81), J. Linthout & Co. (Bruges), Margaret A. Rope (1882–1953), Adrian Gilbert Scott (1882–1963), Christopher Whall (1849–1924),  Nathaniel Westlake (1833–1921).

High altar in the church of St Augustine of Canterbury, Highgate, London (UK), by Adrian Gilbert Scott, and J. Linthout.
Lady Chapel in the church of St Augustine of Canterbury, Highgate, London (UK); metalwork grill designed by Henry Wilson depicting a tree of life and seven stars.
Stained glass by Margaret A. Rope in the church of St Augustine of Canterbury, Highgate, London (UK). (Source: Paul Bell, 2012)
Stained glass by Margaret Rope in the church Of St Stained glass by Margaret A. Rope in the church of St Augustine of Canterbury, Highgate, London (UK). (Source: Paul Bell, 2012)Augustine of Canterbury, Highgate, London (UK). (Source: Paul Bell, 2012)
Stained glass by Margaret A. Rope in the church of St Augustine of Canterbury, Highgate, London (UK). (Source: Paul Bell, 2012)

In 1930 Gibbons completed the Lady Chapel, with a decorative scheme by Nathaniel Westlake, Henry Wilson, and Christopher Whall.

The Lady Chapel, 2002, in the church of St Augustine of Canterbury, Highgate, London (UK). (Source: London Churches in Photographs)
The Lady Chapel, in the church of St Augustine of Canterbury, Highgate, London (UK). (Source: Paul Bell. 2012)
The Lady Chapel, 2002, in the church of St Augustine of Canterbury, Highgate, London (UK). (Source: John Salmon, Wikimedia)

On 13 October 1957 St. Augustine’s was the venue for the first liturgical performance of the “Twentieth-century Folk Mass” by Rev. Geoffrey Beaumont CR (1904–71), a product of the once influential Twentieth-century Church Light Music Group. According to Beaumont, the composition was the result of a chance conversation with a priest-colleague in London’s then impoverished East End who was deeply concerned that church music was utterly foreign to the majority of people.

From the first litrgical performance of Geoffrey Beaumont's "A Twentieth-century Folk Mass" Celebrant: Rev. Gerald Fitzgerald. (Source: Church Times Archive).
From the first litrgical performance of Geoffrey Beaumont’s “A Twentieth-century Folk Mass” Celebrant: Rev. Gerald Fitzgerald. (Source: Church Times Archive).

That first liturgical performance of Beaumont’s mass-setting was broadcast live by the BBC and caused quite a stir at the time. The Daily Express declared that “this disturbing racket . . . was one of the most incongruous things ever seen on TV”, while the Musical Times  dismissed it as music suited to the fetid atmosphere of a night club or cabaret.

This recording (below) was made by the original performers in the run up to the performance at St. Augustine’s: Cantor, John Alldis;  Musicians/singers, The Peter Knight Orchestra and Singers; Conductor, Peter Knight;  Organist, William Davis.

References

An old thing in Aldgate

St Botolph’s Church, Aldgate High Street, London EC3N 1AB

Last Saturday, at St Botolph’s-without-Aldgate church in central London, I attended the Annual General Meeting of the Organ Club. The church building is home to what is considered to be  England’s oldest parish-church pipe organ still in its original position with most of its original insides still present.

Church of St Botolph-without-Aldgate, London (1741-4), c.2015
Church of St Botolph-without-Aldgate, London (1741-4), c.2015

The church building is named after an East Anglian saint who died in 680 and it is located at the site of a former entrance gate to the City of London, the Aldgate (removed 1761). A church building here was already in existence here by 1115. It was substantially rebuilt during the sixteenth century and survived the Great Fire of London (1665).

The City of London’s Aldgate, c.1609
Church of St Botolph-without-Aldgate, London (pre-1741)

The present church building dates from 1741-45 and was built to the designs of John Dance the Elder (1695–1768) who re-aligned the building from its former east-west axis to a north-south one.

Church of St Botolph-without-Aldgate, London (1741-4); interior looking west (c.2000)
The church of St. Botolph-without-Aldgate, c.1850

The area covered by the parish of St Botolph straddles an administrative border that separates the City of London from the London Borough of Tower Hamlets.

The location of the parish of St Botolph-without-Aldgate, shown on the 1741-5 map of London by John Rocque
Parish of St Botolph Aldgate, outlined in red, on the1741-5 map of London by John Rocque
Present-day location of the church of St Botolph-without-Aldgate c.2017

From the later seventeenth century the parish came to be characterised by poverty, disease and poor housing with only a minority of wealthier inhabitants and was in receipt of substantial poor relief and a high level of charitable giving. As the City of London has developed so the resident population of the parish has dwindled significantly and now the parish is dominated by office blocks and riven by busy roads, but even so the church itself retains an air of calm within.

Church of St Botolph-without-Aldgate, London (1741-4); interior looking east (c.2000)
The keyboards of the organ in St Botolph-without-Aldgate, London, c.2010

The present-day pipe organ was first installed in the sixteenth-century building in about 1704 by the organ builder Renatus Harris (c.1652-1724). It was transferred into the replacement building in the 1740s by the organ builder John Byfield (1694-1751) and in 2005 it was faithfully restored by the firm of Goetze and Gwynn.

YouTube Video: William Boyce 'Voluntary No. 4' from Ten Voluntaries for Organ or Harpischord (London: Thompson, c.1785) performed by Robert Woolley at St Botolph's Aldgate (June 2011)

References and further reading

Joseph Maltby Bignell alone in Walthamstow

St Michael and All Angels, London E17 6PQ

Walthamstow is an ancient settlement on the east bank of the River Lea, for which records date back to the time of King Edward the Confessor (1003-66). It is now absorbed within the north-east London suburbs.

Walthamstow c.1840. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/essex/vol6/pp240-250
Location of St Michael and All Angels church, London E17. Google Maps.

With the coming of the railway in the middle of the nineteenth century the area saw rapid housing development by a variety of independant property speculators building homes for the respectable working and lower-middle classes, and much of the buidling stock dates from this time. Even so, the area around the medieval parish church maintains an air of earlier times, and self-consciously promotes itself as ‘Walthamstow Village’.

‘Walthamstow Village’ c.2016. https://www.gov.uk/government/case-studies/public-space-improvements-walthamstow-village
Walthamstow Village, c.1998 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Walthamstow_Village,_1998.jpg
Walthamstow Village, 15th-century ‘hall house’ at Orford Road, Walthamstow, London
St Mary’s church, Walthamstow, London
‘Walthamstow Village’ c.2016. https://www.gov.uk/government/case-studies/public-space-improvements-walthamstow-village

Walthamstow’s nineteenth-century population boom brought a need for new churches and by 1903 there were twelve Anglican churches and seven Anglican missions in Walthamstow; in 2017 there are nine Anglican parishes. Among these the church of St Michael and All Angels (1885) is the largest, establshed with the generous support of the financier and philanthropist Richard Foster (1822-1910). It was built in an Early English Gothic style using dark brown brick to a design by the little-known Joseph Maltby Bignell  (1827-87) who spent much of his architectural career working as an assistant to Sir George Gilbert Scott (1811-78). St Michael and All Angel’s is – for now – his only known completed building.

St Michael and All Angels, Walthamstow, London E17, c.1907 (J.M. Bignell, 1885). http://boroughphotos.org/walthamforest/
St Michael and All Angels, Walthamstow, London E17, c.1907 (J.M. Bignell, 1885). http://boroughphotos.org/walthamforest/
St Michael and All Angels, Walthamstow, London E17 (J.M. Bignell, 1885). http://www.geograph.org.uk/
Lady Chapel. St Michael and All Angels, Walthamstow, London E17 (J.M. Bignell, 1885). John Salmon @churchcrawler
St Michael and All Angels, Walthamstow, London E17 (J.M. Bignell, 1885). http://www.geograph.org.uk/

Currently the church has two pipe-organs. One, of indeterminate origin, is in a gallery on the south side of the chancel. It has two manuals and pedal and replaced an earlier one-manual and pedal organ that was situated here. The current instrument was  decommissioned some decades ago when its console was removed and replaced by a now rather tired and unattractive sounding electronic instrument by the Allen Organ Company; our expectations of digital technology have moved on!

St Michael and All Angels church, Walthamstow, London E17. South Choir gallery pipe-organ.
St Michael and All Angels church, Walthamstow, London E17. Allen organ console. South Choir gallery.

The other pipe-organ is a rather nice Victorian, one-manual and pedal instrument in a handsome ‘Gothick’ case placed in the south east corner of the nave. It was built by the firm of G. M. Holdich originally for a church in the Essex countryside, where in 1965 it underwent restoration by the firm of N, P Mander. The instrument seems to have come to Walthamstow in about 2003. It has a bold, bright sound and while it is no masterpiece it is well-suited to congregational accompaniment and is almost contemporary with the building.

St Michael and All Angels church, Walthamstow, London E17. G. M. Holdich pipe-organ keyboard.
St Michael and All Angels church, Walthamstow, London E17. G. M. Holdich
St Michael and All Angels church, Walthamstow, London E17. G. M. Holdich pipe-organ pedal board.

We can date this instrument from G. M. Holdich’s business address given on the builder’s plate: ‘Euston Road, Kings Cross, London’ from where the firm traded between 1858 and 1866. This fact contradicts a date of  1844 that is given on a recent donor’s plate on the side of the organ.

St Michael and All Angels church, Walthamstow, London E17. G. M. Holdich pipe-organ, builder’s plate, 2003.
St Michael and All Angels church, Walthamstow, London E17. G. M. Holdich pipe-organ builder’s plates.
St Michael and All Angels church, Walthamstow, London E17. G. M. Holdich pipe-organ donor’s plate, 1965.

References