Father Michael Fisher MA, FSA: A Tribute from the Pugin Society
Michael Fisher, who died on April 19th, was one of an outstanding group of Pugin scholars, most of whom were emerging from the late 1970s onwards. He had his own special contribution to make. People come to Pugin in different ways and for different reasons - in the case of Michael it was partly the happy incidence of his place of birth and the locality in which he grew up, his natural love of history and design, and his religious leanings and preferences for certain forms of worship, that made Pugin studies so sympathetic to him.
Members of the Pugin Society will all have their own different memories of Father Michael Fisher leading trips and giving talks to us; I first recall meeting him when he attended a Society study tour to Birmingham in 1997. He was just the same then as he always was thereafter; modest, unassuming and friendly in demeanour, and, when questioned, incredibly informative. This was the start of a long connection - on how many occasions subsequently were we lucky enough to benefit from his knowledge and expertise both as a guide on site, as a supporter generally, and as a contributor to both our publications, True Principles and Present State.
Michael was born 25th January, 1943, and brought up in Leek, Staffordshire. He recalled the formative impact of his childhood visits to the not far distant village of Alton and the glories therein,
created by AWN Pugin and his patron John Talbot, 16th Earl of Shrewsbury. In the Author’s Preface to Pugin-Land (2002) he wrote ‘Setting foot for the first time in the precincts of Alton Castle was like crossing the threshold of another world’; there was also ‘St John’s church with its glorious altar and screen, the sixteenth earl’s coronet still hanging above his memorial … that atmosphere of other-worldliness has never departed. To enter the precincts of St John’s is to enter the minds of Pugin and his noble patron and the eternal concepts of beauty and truth which they wished to set at the very heart of this village community, accessible to all’.
Members of the Pugin Society will all have their own different memories of Father Michael Fisher leading trips and giving talks to us; I first recall meeting him when he attended a Society study tour to Birmingham in 1997. He was just the same then as he always was thereafter; modest, unassuming and friendly in demeanour, and, when questioned, incredibly informative. This was the start of a long connection - on how many occasions subsequently were we lucky enough to benefit from his knowledge and expertise both as a guide on site, as a supporter generally, and as a contributor to both our publications, True Principles and Present State.
Michael was born 25th January, 1943, and brought up in Leek, Staffordshire. He recalled the formative impact of his childhood visits to the not far distant village of Alton and the glories therein,
created by AWN Pugin and his patron John Talbot, 16th Earl of Shrewsbury. In the Author’s Preface to Pugin-Land (2002) he wrote ‘Setting foot for the first time in the precincts of Alton Castle was like crossing the threshold of another world’; there was also ‘St John’s church with its glorious altar and screen, the sixteenth earl’s coronet still hanging above his memorial … that atmosphere of other-worldliness has never departed. To enter the precincts of St John’s is to enter the minds of Pugin and his noble patron and the eternal concepts of beauty and truth which they wished to set at the very heart of this village community, accessible to all’.
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And then there was the magic allure of the nearby Alton Towers itself, about which Michael Fisher was later to write so informatively and emotively in Alton Towers: a Gothic Wonderland (1999) and where he sat on the Alton Towers Heritage Committee. Michael brought the whole Gothic Revival in Staffordshire to life, covering not just the work of Pugin himself but also, in A Vision of Splendour, later revised as Staffordshire and the Gothic Revival, expounding on how the Revival evolved in the area, citing work by George Gilbert Scott, GF Bodley and GE Street, for example. Michael was indeed ‘a builder up of men’s minds’, to quote Pugin.
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It was always reassuring to think that he was on the other end of the line when one wanted any information about, say, Pugin’s glorious St Giles’ church, Cheadle, or Alton Towers, around both of which he conducted us, and so very many others, at one point or another, or in particular about Pugin’s collaboration with the firm of John Hardman & Co, and the location and identification of Pugin/Hardman stained glass or church plate. But although Staffordshire was his native heath and perhaps his first love site-wise, he was also a member and advisor on Pugin’s St Chad’s Cathedral Birmingham fabric committee, where he was greatly valued for his contributions. His knowledge was not just of Pugin buildings, but also of the artefacts that he created for them – the metalwork, the vestments, the tiles, and more. Eventually, after meeting Neil Phillips, then proprietor of Hardman’s, in 1999, he became part-time consultant archivist and researcher for the firm, publishing in 2008 Hardman of Birmingham: Goldsmith and Glasspainter, which gives a wonderful in-depth history of Hardman’s and shows how it was permeated through and through with the work and influence of Pugin, both for ecclesiastical metalwork and for stained glass.
Michael Fisher had artistic talents as well as being a writer and scholar, sometimes attractively embellishing the title pages of his books. At one point he also set up a small craft workshop producing ornamental carving and lettering in Welsh slate, skills which were to bring him various commissions. These were useful indeed, since after acquiring a BA in History from Leicester University, and an MA from Keele University in 1967, Michael eventually became Head of History at King Edward V1 Grammar School, Leek. When he subsequently retired from teaching in 1976, he needed to supplement his income because in 1979 he was ordained, and became a much respected non-stipendiary, or unpaid, priest. Extra funding must also have been assisted by proceeds from his publications, of which there were quite a number, and by his many lectures and tours in Staffordshire,
all in the cause of Pugin and allied subjects.
Michael Fisher had artistic talents as well as being a writer and scholar, sometimes attractively embellishing the title pages of his books. At one point he also set up a small craft workshop producing ornamental carving and lettering in Welsh slate, skills which were to bring him various commissions. These were useful indeed, since after acquiring a BA in History from Leicester University, and an MA from Keele University in 1967, Michael eventually became Head of History at King Edward V1 Grammar School, Leek. When he subsequently retired from teaching in 1976, he needed to supplement his income because in 1979 he was ordained, and became a much respected non-stipendiary, or unpaid, priest. Extra funding must also have been assisted by proceeds from his publications, of which there were quite a number, and by his many lectures and tours in Staffordshire,
all in the cause of Pugin and allied subjects.
Michael’s faith, his devout Anglo-Catholicism, was all important to him and underpinned his life and his particular take on Pugin. He wrote in Pugin-Land: ‘although I have remained an Anglican my beliefs and outlook have been shaped by some of the same sources that worked so powerfully upon Pugin’; that is, he loved the ancient form of the liturgy and the Gothic style, and understood perfectly Pugin’s religious beliefs and the way he designed his churches to reflect them. It was clear, to anyone who saw the live streaming of Michael Fisher’s funeral on 28th April, in St Chad’s church, Stafford, where he had been priest-in-charge for many years, how greatly he was valued as a priest, both by colleagues, and also by parishioners, and in what affection he was held. And of course there are more facets to his character than those with which we, as Puginites, are familiar with. ‘Out of the Noise’: a Post-war Childhood in a Moorlands Town (2019), published by The Book Guild Ltd, and written by Michael, gives some clues to these other facets and is a delightful account of his early years. We also attach below a select bibliography of his publications which will give some idea of his productivity in the Pugin field.
It remains for us to thank Father Michael Fisher warmly for all he did to promote Pugin, and for his help and encouragement of the Pugin Society at all times. We extend our deepest sympathy to his wife Isobel, his daughter Sarah and her husband, and his two grandsons, Liam and Rhys.
The Revd Michael Fisher MA, FSA, born 25th January 1943, died 19th April 2021
It remains for us to thank Father Michael Fisher warmly for all he did to promote Pugin, and for his help and encouragement of the Pugin Society at all times. We extend our deepest sympathy to his wife Isobel, his daughter Sarah and her husband, and his two grandsons, Liam and Rhys.
The Revd Michael Fisher MA, FSA, born 25th January 1943, died 19th April 2021
Select Bibliography:
A Vision of Splendour: Gothic Revival in Staffordshire 1840-90 (1995) Churnet Valley Books.
Alton Towers: a Gothic Wonderland (1999) M.J.Fisher.
Pugin-Land (2002) Michael J. Fisher (Publishing).
Perfect Cheadle: St Giles’ Catholic Church, Staffordshire (2004), M.J.Fisher.
Staffordshire and the Gothic Revival (2006) Landmark Publishing Ltd.
Hardman of Birmingham: Goldsmith and Glasspainter (2008) Landmark Publishing.
‘Gothic for Ever’: AWN Pugin, Lord Shrewsbury, and the Rebuilding of Catholic England (2012) Spire Books.
Guarding the Pugin Flame: John Hardman Powell, 1827-1895 (2017) Spire Books.
A Vision of Splendour: Gothic Revival in Staffordshire 1840-90 (1995) Churnet Valley Books.
Alton Towers: a Gothic Wonderland (1999) M.J.Fisher.
Pugin-Land (2002) Michael J. Fisher (Publishing).
Perfect Cheadle: St Giles’ Catholic Church, Staffordshire (2004), M.J.Fisher.
Staffordshire and the Gothic Revival (2006) Landmark Publishing Ltd.
Hardman of Birmingham: Goldsmith and Glasspainter (2008) Landmark Publishing.
‘Gothic for Ever’: AWN Pugin, Lord Shrewsbury, and the Rebuilding of Catholic England (2012) Spire Books.
Guarding the Pugin Flame: John Hardman Powell, 1827-1895 (2017) Spire Books.
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