Tag: Diocese of Westminster

Our Most Holy Redeemer & St Thomas More, Chelsea

Having previously written about the Shrine of Our Lady of Willesden and its connection with Sir Thomas More and his family, I was very happy recently to have the opportunity to visit Chelsea (where More lived at the end of his life) to play for a Sunday mass at the church which – since his canonisation in 1935 – bears More’s name.

Location of the church of Our Most Holy Redeemer & St Thomas More, Chelsea, London (UK).
Church of Our Most Holy Redeemer and St Thomas More Catholic Church. [Source: – geograph.org.uk]
Location of the church of Our Most Holy Redeemer & St Thomas More, Chelsea, London (UK).

The site in Upper Cheyne Walk was formerly occupied by Orange House, one of a terrace of eleven houses (c.1710), of which the other ten remain. Orange House was the location (1876–82) of workshops belonging to  the well-known ‘Arts and Crafts’ potter and ceramic artist William de Morgan (1839–1917). The present building was consecrated in 1905, built to the Renaissance-style design of Edward Goldie (1856–1921).

Church of Our Most Holy Redeemer & St Thomas More, Chelsea, London (UK). [Source: geograph.org.uk]
Church of Our Most Holy Redeemer & St Thomas More, Chelsea, London (UK). [Source: geograph.org.uk]
Church of Our Most Holy Redeemer & St Thomas More, Chelsea, London (UK). [Source: taking-stock.org.uk]

George-Maydwell-Holdich (1816-96). [Source: Organ Historical Society opf Australia ohta.org.au]
G. M. Holdich (1816-96) [Source: ohta.org.au]
At the west end of the church is an organ gallery and pipe organ that replaces an earlier instrument destroyed by aerial bombing during the Second World War. The present  instrument was made by G. M. Holditch (1816–96) for a church in High Wycombe. It was described there as  having an “elegant case of ebonised wood, generously gilded on moulding and ornamentation.” (NPOR). Since then that case has largely been lost and the instrument been much adapted by unknown hands. Although now rather unattractive in appearance this instrument is nonetheless well suited to congregational accompaniment.

Builder’s plate on the west-gallery pipe organ; church of Our Most Holy Redeemer & St Thomas More, Chelsea, London (UK)
Pipe-work of the west-gallery pipe organ; church of Our Most Holy Redeemer & St Thomas More, Chelsea, London (UK)
Console and pipe-work of the west-gallery pipe organ; church of Our Most Holy Redeemer & St Thomas More, Chelsea, London (UK)
Console of the west-gallery pipe organ; church of Our Most Holy Redeemer & St Thomas More, Chelsea, London (UK)
West gallery and pipe organ; church of Our Most Holy Redeemer & St Thomas More, Chelsea, London (UK)

References

Strangely Moorish …

St Paul the Apostle, Station Road, Wood Green, London N22 7SY

The north-London catholic church of St Paul the Apostle in Wood Green has perhaps the least kerb-appeal of any church I know. The forbidding (unforgiving) single-storey facade of plain, repeating concrete arches facing onto a busy traffic route gives the building a rather Moorish appearance, there being no obviously Christian signifiers except for a tiny cross high a-top a towering narrow pylon. Indeed I supsect many people driving past might even mistake the place for a mosque in this typically multi-cultural London borough.

 

The church of St Paul the Apostle (1971), Wood Green, London N22. Source: Wikimedia Commons
The location of the church of St Paul the Apostle, Wood Green, London N22.
The church of St Paul the Apostle (1971), Wood Green, London N22. Source: Geograph

A Catholic presence was first established in Wood Green in 1884 with a new church in Romanesque-style (1904) designed by Edward Goldie (1856–1921). Alas, I can find no images of this building.  In 1971 Goldie’s church was replaced by a new church with hall, school and presbytry attached, all designed by John Rochford and Partner of Sheffield.

 

Interior, the church of St Paul the Apostle, London N22. Source: ‘Photographs of London Churches’.
Interior, the church of St Paul the Apostle, London N22. Source: ‘Photographs of London Churches’.
Interior, the church of St Paul the Apostle, London N22. Source: ‘Photographs of London Churches’.
Interior, the church of St Paul the Apostle, London N22. Source: ‘Photographs of London Churches’.
Interior, the church of St Paul the Apostle, London N22. Source: ‘Photographs of London Churches’.

The shape of the church is a pentagon, with the sanctuary at the apex. The interior is plain, even austere, all of brick and concrete, lit from above by clerestory windows. Colour is priovided by a series of stained-glass windows, a number brought from the previous church. Most striking are the huge panels of modern stained-glass that almost completely fill the top half of the wall facing the altar. They were commisioned in 1982 from the Maltese artist Carmel Cauchi on the theme ‘Pilgrim Church’. The interior of the church is larger and loftier than one might have imagined before entering, seating over 600, and yet despite its scale it conjours a quiet and prayerful aura.

The Organ

Detail: the pipe organ by Monk & Gunther (1975) in the church of St Paul the Apostle, Wood Green, London N22. Source: Andrew Pink
Detail: the pipe organ by Monk & Gunther (1975) in the church of St Paul the Apostle, Wood Green, London N22. Source: Andrew Pink
Detail: the pipe organ by Monk & Gunther (1975) in the church of St Paul the Apostle, Wood Green, London N22.
Detail: the pipe organ by Monk & Gunther (1975) in the church of St Paul the Apostle, Wood Green, London N22. Source: Andrew Pink
Detail: the pipe organ by Monk & Gunther (1975) in the church of St Paul the Apostle, Wood Green, London N22. Source: Andrew Pink
Detail: the pipe organ by Monk & Gunther (1975) in the church of St Paul the Apostle, Wood Green, London N22. Source: Andrew Pink
Detail: the pipe organ by Monk & Gunther (1975) in the church of St Paul the Apostle, Wood Green, London N22. Source: Andrew Pink

The pipe organ was built (1975) by the now defunct local firm of Monk and Gunther. The pipework on the cantilevered gallery – with console at ground level – makes an impressive visual impact in the buidling. This is not matched by its tonal impact because of its poorly conceived ‘extension’ design, which provides little variety in terms of colour or power, being weak and barely sufficient for accompanying the liturgy in this bustling, well-attended church. Sadly, the instrument seems to have been well built and well maintained, with no signs of needing replacement any time soon.

References

Joan of Arc: a first for London

St Joan of Arc’s Church, 60 Highbury Park. London N5 2XH

The location of St Joan of Arc church in Highbury, London
St Joan of Arc church in Highbury, London (n.d.) from a parsih publication of 2013
The nave in the church of St Joan of Arc (c.2000), Highbury, London

The Catholic parish of St Joan of Arc in north London (UK) achieved a certain prominence during the 1990s when it was the local church of choice for the former British Labour Party leader and later Prime Minister Tony Blair and his family. However, the parish has two rather more interesting claims on posterity.

Firstly, ths buidling is the immediate succesor of the first Catholic church anywhere in the world dedicated to St Joan of Arc. From 1918 local Highbury Catholics had worshipped in the chapel of a convent of Discalced Carmelite nuns but increasing numbers of worshippers required the provision of a separate church.

The interior c.1950 of the first church of St Joan of Arc in Kelross Road, London N5
The main entrance c.1950 to first church of St Joan of Arc in Kelross Road, London N5

This new church was opened on 13 October 1920 just five monrths after Joan’s canonisation (16 May 1920). When the Carmelites left Highbury in 1953 the convent site was used for a new and much larger church designed by Stanley Kerr Bate (b.1906–?), which opened on 23 September 1962.

The church of St Joan of Arc church in Highbury, London; detail of west fron and tower c.1990
The church of St Joan of Arc church in Highbury, London; detail of west fron and tower, c.1990

Secondly, the new church tower was the first in England to be provided with a radioactive lightning rod. (Taking Stock). The idea behind this device –  Early Streamer Emission theory – was that a small quantity of radioactive isotopes at the tip of the rod greatly increased the lightning capture area. The theory has since been discredited. Worriyingly, with such devices there is always a risk that the effects of weathering and poor maintenance allows radioactive material to be released in an uncontolled way into the environment. I have no idea if this dubious device is still in place on the tower at St Joan’s.

Builder’s plate on the organ in the church of St Joan of Arc, Highbury, London, 2017
Detail of the organ by J. W. Walker and Sons (1963) in the church of St Joan of Arc, Highbury, London, 2017
The console of the organ by J. W. Walker and Sons (1963) in the church of St Joan of Arc, Highbury, London, 2017
The choir gallery in the church of St Joan of arc, Highbury, London, 2017
Detail of the organ by J. W. Walker and Sons (1963) in the church of St Joan of Arc, Highbury, London, 2017
Detail of the organ by J. W. Walker and Sons (1963) in the church of St Joan of Arc, Highbury, London, 2017
The pedal division of the organ by J. W. Walker and Sons (1963) in the church of St Joan of Arc, Highbury, London, 2017
The console of the organ by J. W. Walker and Sons (1963) in the church of St Joan of Arc, Highbury, London, 2017.
The piston setter of the organ by J. W. Walker and Sons (1963) in the church of St Joan of Arc, Highbury, London, 2017

The very nice neo-baroque pipe organ (1963) is by J. W. Walker and Sons Ltd, and is divided either side of the front wall of a spacious choir gallery at the west end of the nave. The largest pedal pipes are in a separate case on the gallery.

References