Tag: E. W. Pugin

Hippo and Hoxton

The Augustinian Priory of St Monica, Hoxton Square, London N1

I recently had a chance to play the pipe-organ at the Augustinians’ priory in Hoxton Square, just north of the City of London. Who knew that the  Augustinians continue a 150-year presence in Hoxton, or that the Hoxton Priory was the first Augustinian house to have been established in England since Henry VIII’s dissolution of the monasteries?

Hoxton Square, London, (UK), looking towards the the north end of the eastern side, showing (l-r) the school, church and priory of St Monica, built 1864-66 for the Augustinians, by E. W. Pugin (1834-75).
Hoxton Square, street sign
Hoxton Square, London (UK), the north end of the eastern side, showing (l-r) the school, church and priory of St Monica, built 1864-66 for the Augustinians, by E. W. Pugin (1834-75).

Hoxton Square was built up by London merchants during the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. By the time of the Augustinians’ arrival in the 1860s the area was – as Charles Booth’s ‘poverty maps’ (1889) indicate – a socially very mixed area with the comfortably off living side by side with the very poorest. At this time the area was largely given over to trade and manufacture, especially the furniture trade. It was also home to alms-houses and private mad-houses (lunatic asylums).

A legend, for Charles Booth’s ‘Maps Descriptive of London Poverty, 1898-9’; the black marker indicates Hoxton Square. (Source: https://booth.lse.ac.uk/).
Charles Booth’s ‘Maps Descriptive of London Poverty, 1898-9’; the black marker indicates Hoxton Square. (Source: https://booth.lse.ac.uk/).
Detail of Charles Booth’s ‘Maps Descriptive of London Poverty, 1898-9’; the black marker indicates Hoxton Square. (Source: https://booth.lse.ac.uk/). The Priory church, house and school, occupies the northern end of the eastern side of the square.

Just thirteen years later, Charles Booth in his Life and Labour of the People in London (1902) gave a bleak assessment of the population:

The character of the whole locality is working-class. Poverty is everywhere, with a considerable admixture of the very poor and vicious … Large numbers have been and are still being displaced by the encroachment of warehouses and factories … Hoxton is known for its costers and Curtain criminals, for its furniture trade … No servants are kept except in the main Road shopping streets and in a few remaining middle class squares in the west.

This area is now seeing much better days, and is best-known for its trend-setting creative industries and galleries, popularly satirised of late for its population of so-called ‘hipsters’, or should that now be ‘yuccies’?

Hipsters or yuccies?
Hipsters or yuccies?
Hipsters or yuccies?

The Augustinians’ priory buildings (1864-66) – church, priory house and school – were designed by E. W. Pugin (1834-75). The church is dedicated to St Monica, the mother of the Order’s patron, St Augustine of Hippo (354-430); the town of Hippo is now present-day Annaba in Algeria. The elaborate decoration of the church’s chancel has recently been restored and is splendid.

St Monica’s Priory, Hoxton, London (UK); nave, looking east, before the renovation of the chancel decorations.
St Monica’s Priory, Hoxton, London (UK); part of the restored decoration of the chancel
St Monica’s Priory, Hoxton, London (UK); original wall decoration.
St Monica’s Priory, Hoxton, London (UK); aisle, looking west.
St Monica’s Priory, Hoxton, London (UK); part of the restored decoration of the chancel

The pipe-organ (1866) is on a gallery at the west end of the church made by the London firm of Bishop and Sons, probably for this church. The handsome case however, belies an incomplete and dull instrument. My guess is that it arrived incomplete for want of funds and was never finished.

The pipe organ (1866) in St Monica’s Priory, Hoxton, London (UK); right-hand stop jamb
The pipe organ (1866) in St Monica’s Priory, Hoxton, London (UK)
The pipe organ (1866) in St Monica’s Priory, Hoxton, London (UK); cooer left-hand stop jamb
The pipe organ (1866) in St Monica’s Priory, Hoxton, London (UK)
The pipe organ (1866) in St Monica’s Priory, Hoxton, London (UK); pedal board
The pipe organ (1866) in St Monica’s Priory, Hoxton, London (UK)
The pipe organ (1866) in St Monica’s Priory, Hoxton, London (UK); lower left-hand stop jamb

Nowadays it is in a sorry condition and scarcely passes muster. The poor-sounding pipework and the worn-out mechanics are probably not special enough to warrant restoration, but  even if restored this pipe-organ would not be particularly useful. I suspect that the case and visible pipework will always have to remain, being part of the historic fabric. Meanwhile, we can only hope for a generous benefaction finally to allow the commissioning of  a new instrument for the old case that is worthy of the location and its traditions.

Orgelbewegung in north London

Our Lady & St Joseph, Balls Pond Road, London N1

I recently found my way to the church of Our Lady and St Joseph located on the Balls Pond Road in north London. The road is said to have been named after a pond owned by a John Ball who in much earlier times ran the Salutation Tavern (aka the Boarded House), which provided facilities for bull baiting and – on its pond – duck hunting.

The first church of Our Lady & St Joseph and school, London N1, late c19. Source: Taking Stock
Balls Pond, north London, shown on Ordnance Survey First Series, Sheet 7 (1856)
The location of Our Lady & St. Joseph’s church, London N1 4AG.

The parish was established in 1855 by Fr William Lockhart of the Rosminian Order. The first parish church (1856-c.1960) was located at the corner of Culford Road and Tottenham Street, Hackney. This church was converted from a disused warehouse by W. W. Wardell (1823-99), with further adaptation by E. W. Pugin (1834–75) completed in 1860.

The current buidling is designed by William C Mangen (1884-?) and was opened in 1964.

Church of Our Lady & St Joseph, London N1. Source: Geograph
Church of Our Lady & St Joseph, London N1. Source: Evinson
Church of Our Lady & St Joseph, London N1. Source: Geograph
Church of Our Lady & St Joseph, London N1. Source: Geograph
The church of Our Lady & St. Joseph, Islington, N1. Source: parish website.

The pipe organ

The organ here is by J. W. Walker and Sons (1964).

The J. W. Walker organ in the church of Our Lady & St Joseph, London N1. Source: Andrew Pink
The J. W. Walker organ in the church of Our Lady & St Joseph, London N1. Source: Andrew Pink
The J. W. Walker organ in the church of Our Lady & St Joseph, London N1. Source: Andrew Pink

It is a very nice English interpretation of the organ reform movement or Orgelbewegung, a twentieth-century organ design tradition that began in Germany. Here no concessions are made to ‘romantic’/’symphonic’ organ design, although the temperament is equal.

The J. W. Walker organ in the church of Our Lady & St Joseph, London N1. Source: Andrew Pink
The J. W. Walker organ in the church of Our Lady & St Joseph, London N1. Source: Andrew Pink
The J. W. Walker organ in the church of Our Lady & St Joseph, London N1. Source: Andrew Pink
The J. W. Walker organ in the church of Our Lady & St Joseph, London N1. Source: Andrew Pink
The J. W. Walker organ in the church of Our Lady & St Joseph, London N1. Source: Andrew Pink

The instrument is beautifully crafted and more than 50 years on is still lovely to play. Works by the Baroque masters and Paul Hindemith ‘et al’ suit it very nicely. Sadly, I had no opportunity to record the instrument. Next time maybe.

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