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Pugin’s personal church faces wonderful future says departing rector of St Augustine’s, Ramsgate. September 14, 2018
“A whole host of people told me it was impossible to save but we just kept going,” said Father Marcus Holden in a packed farewell talk in the visitor centre of St Augustine’s, Ramsgate. Looking back on the eight year £2million restoration of the church Pugin once described as “my own child” Father Marcus, who will be moving next month to become parish priest of St Bede’s, Clapham, London, said: “I want to offer this as a story of providence. I have been caught up as a player in a great project,” he said.
“It has been challenging but we have received immense blessings.”
In 2010, with an inkling that he might be moved from Tunbridge Wells, where he was assistant priest, to St Augustine’s he made a secret visit to Ramsgate with his mother and they listened to a talk about Pugin in The Grange. “He sounds like you,” was his mother’s verdict.
Parking on the seafront he went into St Augustine’s and immediately sensed its atmosphere. “The darkness and dustiness made it even more enticing and when I got to the chantry chapel I prayed that if it was God’s will I would go to Ramsgate,” he said. Soon after he learned that St Augustine’s had been set for closure.
Arriving as parish priest he drew up a plan for renewal, initially consisting of “create Friends, produce pamphlet”, but the project quickly gathered momentum and supporters. “It has been very much a group enterprise,” he said.
The restoration drew national attention with visits from the Duke of Kent, Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber, broadcaster Alastair Stewart and Clive Aslet, former editor of Country Life.
Father Marcus paid tribute to the architect, Paul Sharrock, John Coverdale, former centre manager, the Pugin Society and a large number of volunteers. “The right people arrived at the right time,” he said.
Particular highlights had been the locating of a relic of St Augustine and the church being declared the saint’s official shrine in 2012, winning a £1.2million grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund and the restoration of the church’s rood screen.
“Eight years is a kind of fullness and I am really confident the next chapter will be wonderful. The adventure continues. En avant!” he said.
In an earlier message to parishioners Father Marcus said “I have been parish priest in Ramsgate and Minster for eight years and it has been the greatest joy of my life. This was my first appointment as parish priest and it will always be closest to my heart.”
Father Christopher Basden has been appointed new parish priest in Ramsgate and will start work after Christmas.
“A whole host of people told me it was impossible to save but we just kept going,” said Father Marcus Holden in a packed farewell talk in the visitor centre of St Augustine’s, Ramsgate. Looking back on the eight year £2million restoration of the church Pugin once described as “my own child” Father Marcus, who will be moving next month to become parish priest of St Bede’s, Clapham, London, said: “I want to offer this as a story of providence. I have been caught up as a player in a great project,” he said.
“It has been challenging but we have received immense blessings.”
In 2010, with an inkling that he might be moved from Tunbridge Wells, where he was assistant priest, to St Augustine’s he made a secret visit to Ramsgate with his mother and they listened to a talk about Pugin in The Grange. “He sounds like you,” was his mother’s verdict.
Parking on the seafront he went into St Augustine’s and immediately sensed its atmosphere. “The darkness and dustiness made it even more enticing and when I got to the chantry chapel I prayed that if it was God’s will I would go to Ramsgate,” he said. Soon after he learned that St Augustine’s had been set for closure.
Arriving as parish priest he drew up a plan for renewal, initially consisting of “create Friends, produce pamphlet”, but the project quickly gathered momentum and supporters. “It has been very much a group enterprise,” he said.
The restoration drew national attention with visits from the Duke of Kent, Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber, broadcaster Alastair Stewart and Clive Aslet, former editor of Country Life.
Father Marcus paid tribute to the architect, Paul Sharrock, John Coverdale, former centre manager, the Pugin Society and a large number of volunteers. “The right people arrived at the right time,” he said.
Particular highlights had been the locating of a relic of St Augustine and the church being declared the saint’s official shrine in 2012, winning a £1.2million grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund and the restoration of the church’s rood screen.
“Eight years is a kind of fullness and I am really confident the next chapter will be wonderful. The adventure continues. En avant!” he said.
In an earlier message to parishioners Father Marcus said “I have been parish priest in Ramsgate and Minster for eight years and it has been the greatest joy of my life. This was my first appointment as parish priest and it will always be closest to my heart.”
Father Christopher Basden has been appointed new parish priest in Ramsgate and will start work after Christmas.
Catriona Blaker discusses Pugin’s thanksgiving for being kept safe at sea. September 15, 2018
Despite being shipwrecked in early youth Augustus Pugin maintained a lifelong love of the sea, selling his boat the Caroline only a few months before his death, according to Pugin scholar, Catriona Blaker. Speaking to an audience at St Augustine’s, Ramsgate, Blaker, co-founder of the Pugin Society, said he was fascinated by the sea and its dramas and cared deeply for its casualties often arranging medical care for the injured and funerals for those who died near his home. He often dressed in well worn sailor’s clothing.
“All his life Pugin deeply loved the sea and marine activities,” she said. “The subject of ships, wrecks and the sea makes an appropriate parallel to Pugin’s own turbulent and storm-tossed life.
“On a spiritual plane the sea brought souls for the Catholic church, mariners to worship at his own church of St Augustine and gave him the opportunity to exercise the charity and care for others he thought so important”. On a more mundane level, she added, in the years before Ramsgate had an official lifeboat Pugin would use his boats to rescue men, ships and cargo and the salvage money paid would go towards building his church, St Augustine’s.
After he was shipwrecked in early life Pugin was said to have crawled to a cottage where the woman of the house fed him, let him sleep and dried his clothes. He sent her a Christmas hamper regularly thereafter. Although the experience never stopped him buying boats or sailing it left him in awe of the sea, Blaker explained. “Only the ignorant despise the dangers of the sea,”Pugin is reported to have remarked.
At the age of 26, in 1838, Pugin gave a set of candlesticks to Oscott College Chapel, Bimingham, as an offering of thanks for delivery from a violent storm, Blaker explained. The candlesticks are inscribed with the words “sospes ex turbidine et diris fulminibus” meaning “saved from troubles and fearful thunderbolts and disasters”, she said.
Despite being shipwrecked in early youth Augustus Pugin maintained a lifelong love of the sea, selling his boat the Caroline only a few months before his death, according to Pugin scholar, Catriona Blaker. Speaking to an audience at St Augustine’s, Ramsgate, Blaker, co-founder of the Pugin Society, said he was fascinated by the sea and its dramas and cared deeply for its casualties often arranging medical care for the injured and funerals for those who died near his home. He often dressed in well worn sailor’s clothing.
“All his life Pugin deeply loved the sea and marine activities,” she said. “The subject of ships, wrecks and the sea makes an appropriate parallel to Pugin’s own turbulent and storm-tossed life.
“On a spiritual plane the sea brought souls for the Catholic church, mariners to worship at his own church of St Augustine and gave him the opportunity to exercise the charity and care for others he thought so important”. On a more mundane level, she added, in the years before Ramsgate had an official lifeboat Pugin would use his boats to rescue men, ships and cargo and the salvage money paid would go towards building his church, St Augustine’s.
After he was shipwrecked in early life Pugin was said to have crawled to a cottage where the woman of the house fed him, let him sleep and dried his clothes. He sent her a Christmas hamper regularly thereafter. Although the experience never stopped him buying boats or sailing it left him in awe of the sea, Blaker explained. “Only the ignorant despise the dangers of the sea,”Pugin is reported to have remarked.
At the age of 26, in 1838, Pugin gave a set of candlesticks to Oscott College Chapel, Bimingham, as an offering of thanks for delivery from a violent storm, Blaker explained. The candlesticks are inscribed with the words “sospes ex turbidine et diris fulminibus” meaning “saved from troubles and fearful thunderbolts and disasters”, she said.
Pugin’s letters and diaries, many written from The Grange, his home on the Thanet coast, make frequent references to storms and shipping disasters.
“Everything is shaking and trembling and I have had two dying men to attend to from Spanish vessels- they were in the last state of exhaustion when brought ashore, he wrote in December 1847, “We must have a hospital here and three Sisters of Mercy - it is indispensable.” Two years later he describes the sinking of “one of our finest luggers” “Only one man saved. There are eight widows and 40 fatherless children. The distress is dreadful,” he wrote. Another entry from the same year recorded; “One emigrant ship for Antwerp and 171 persons lost last night on the long sand.”
Pugin bought his first boat, Elizabeth when he was 19 and went on a five day trip from Westminster to Gravesend and back with only one companion. Later he made trips to Holland and France to bring back antiques and furnishings. His last boat, Caroline, a three-masted Deal lugger, was bought in 1849 for £70 and was fitted out by Frederick Crace & Co, the royal decorators. The following year it salvaged 18 tons of Russian tallow – enough to pay for the damage caused by rocking scaffolding at the church, Pugin hoped.
But money remained a problem, expressed in maritime metaphor: “I know I am in a sinking ship and when I can no longer pump we go down,” Pugin wrote. He sold Caroline in early 1852 and died on September 14th the same year, the day after he visited St Augustine’s church for the last time.
“We can think of the significance to him of the Christian symbolism of the ship of the church, travelling on its turbulent way through the perils of life, but guided by the hand of God,” said Blaker.
Note: all quotes from Pugin’s letters cited here, with some amendments to punctuation, come from the invaluable five-volumes of these, edited by the late Margaret Belcher. Quotes from his diary come from Alexandra Wedgwood’s edited version included in AWN Pugin and the Pugin Family, Victoria & Albert Museum 1985.
“Everything is shaking and trembling and I have had two dying men to attend to from Spanish vessels- they were in the last state of exhaustion when brought ashore, he wrote in December 1847, “We must have a hospital here and three Sisters of Mercy - it is indispensable.” Two years later he describes the sinking of “one of our finest luggers” “Only one man saved. There are eight widows and 40 fatherless children. The distress is dreadful,” he wrote. Another entry from the same year recorded; “One emigrant ship for Antwerp and 171 persons lost last night on the long sand.”
Pugin bought his first boat, Elizabeth when he was 19 and went on a five day trip from Westminster to Gravesend and back with only one companion. Later he made trips to Holland and France to bring back antiques and furnishings. His last boat, Caroline, a three-masted Deal lugger, was bought in 1849 for £70 and was fitted out by Frederick Crace & Co, the royal decorators. The following year it salvaged 18 tons of Russian tallow – enough to pay for the damage caused by rocking scaffolding at the church, Pugin hoped.
But money remained a problem, expressed in maritime metaphor: “I know I am in a sinking ship and when I can no longer pump we go down,” Pugin wrote. He sold Caroline in early 1852 and died on September 14th the same year, the day after he visited St Augustine’s church for the last time.
“We can think of the significance to him of the Christian symbolism of the ship of the church, travelling on its turbulent way through the perils of life, but guided by the hand of God,” said Blaker.
Note: all quotes from Pugin’s letters cited here, with some amendments to punctuation, come from the invaluable five-volumes of these, edited by the late Margaret Belcher. Quotes from his diary come from Alexandra Wedgwood’s edited version included in AWN Pugin and the Pugin Family, Victoria & Albert Museum 1985.
Art and Christianity lecture series to feature Rosemary Hill
Art and Christianity present a series of symposia entitled 'Visual Communion' on the art, architecture and craft of the Eucharist. The event features Rosemary Hill, society member and author of God's Architect: Pugin and the Building of Romantic Britain, who will give the keynote lecture on 'The brightness of returning glory': Pugin and the revival of Catholic architecture. Her lecture takes place 6pm on 7th September at Ushaw College. When booking, mention that you are with the Pugin Society to receive the concessionary rate. Click on the image above to enlarge, or click HERE to visit their website for more details.
Art and Christianity present a series of symposia entitled 'Visual Communion' on the art, architecture and craft of the Eucharist. The event features Rosemary Hill, society member and author of God's Architect: Pugin and the Building of Romantic Britain, who will give the keynote lecture on 'The brightness of returning glory': Pugin and the revival of Catholic architecture. Her lecture takes place 6pm on 7th September at Ushaw College. When booking, mention that you are with the Pugin Society to receive the concessionary rate. Click on the image above to enlarge, or click HERE to visit their website for more details.
Details Released for Pugin Week 2018
Details are now available for this year's Pugin Week, held September 10-16 at the National Pugin Centre in St Augustine's Church, Ramsgate. This year features a series of lectures by Prof Michael Alexander on 'Pugin the Writer', Catriona Blaker of the Pugin Society on 'Pugin, Ramsgate and the Sea', Jayne Evelyn's compare and contrast of Pugin's Gothic Revival buildings and Ramsgate's Regency architecture, and Martin Renshaw and Dr Vicki Hardin on Pugin's question, 'Why don't they know how to use my building?' Fr Marcus will officiate Pugin's Requiem Mass in the chantry chapel, and will also give his final talk as Rector of St Augustine's where he'll share some reflections and stories of events leading to the creation of the National Pugin Centre and the Shrine of St Augustine. There are plenty of events not to be missed - for full details, including times and dates, see the event flyer HERE.
Details are now available for this year's Pugin Week, held September 10-16 at the National Pugin Centre in St Augustine's Church, Ramsgate. This year features a series of lectures by Prof Michael Alexander on 'Pugin the Writer', Catriona Blaker of the Pugin Society on 'Pugin, Ramsgate and the Sea', Jayne Evelyn's compare and contrast of Pugin's Gothic Revival buildings and Ramsgate's Regency architecture, and Martin Renshaw and Dr Vicki Hardin on Pugin's question, 'Why don't they know how to use my building?' Fr Marcus will officiate Pugin's Requiem Mass in the chantry chapel, and will also give his final talk as Rector of St Augustine's where he'll share some reflections and stories of events leading to the creation of the National Pugin Centre and the Shrine of St Augustine. There are plenty of events not to be missed - for full details, including times and dates, see the event flyer HERE.
Summary and photos of this year's Study Tour to Liverpool and the Wirral is now available HERE.
Gerard Hyland examines Pugin's approach to Liturgical Space
Published by Spire Books & The Pugin Society and based on the author's Pugin Lecture in Ramsgate in September 2017, this work addresses how AWN Pugin’s ecclesiology underwent a significant development in the later years of his life, the possible reasons for which are identified. After the opening of St Giles, Cheadle in 1846, Pugin started to experiment with various forms of asymmetry, and began to relax his earlier strict compliance with the rubrical requirements of the Use of Sarum. This was an implicit admission that his earlier conflation of Gothic with the Use of Sarum (‘Puginism’) had been flawed, and that Gothic could indeed be validly used in the service of the Tridentine Rite that was then normative in England. He made proposals as to how the ‘all seeing, all hearing’ liturgy that the Council of Trent had sought to promote could be facilitated by reconfiguring the chancels of Gothic churches. Copies can be ordered from Spire Books, South Barn, Old Standlynch Farm, Downton, Salisbury SP5 3QR
Price £14.95, cheques payable to J.P & D Elliott. It can also be ordered via Amazon. Author Gerard Hyland is set to lead the Pugin Society's summer study tour on The Gothic Revival in Liverpool and the Wirral. Find out details and book your place HERE.
Published by Spire Books & The Pugin Society and based on the author's Pugin Lecture in Ramsgate in September 2017, this work addresses how AWN Pugin’s ecclesiology underwent a significant development in the later years of his life, the possible reasons for which are identified. After the opening of St Giles, Cheadle in 1846, Pugin started to experiment with various forms of asymmetry, and began to relax his earlier strict compliance with the rubrical requirements of the Use of Sarum. This was an implicit admission that his earlier conflation of Gothic with the Use of Sarum (‘Puginism’) had been flawed, and that Gothic could indeed be validly used in the service of the Tridentine Rite that was then normative in England. He made proposals as to how the ‘all seeing, all hearing’ liturgy that the Council of Trent had sought to promote could be facilitated by reconfiguring the chancels of Gothic churches. Copies can be ordered from Spire Books, South Barn, Old Standlynch Farm, Downton, Salisbury SP5 3QR
Price £14.95, cheques payable to J.P & D Elliott. It can also be ordered via Amazon. Author Gerard Hyland is set to lead the Pugin Society's summer study tour on The Gothic Revival in Liverpool and the Wirral. Find out details and book your place HERE.
Gothic Revival Dublin home built by AWN Pugin’s son-in-law on market for £8.1million
A large seaside home in Killiney, built by the Irish architect George Ashlin, who was married to AWN Pugin’s daughter, Mary, and was in partnership with Edward Pugin, has been put up for sale for £8,125,524.
St George’s, overlooking Dublin Bay, built in 1876, nine years after Ashlin married Mary Pugin, includes a small oratory “believed to have been added in thanksgiving after the Ashlins were blessed with a daughter after ten years of marriage,” according to The Irish Times. There are monograms and heraldic symbols commemorating the Ashlins and the Pugins on almost every natural material in the house, describing it as “the ultimate bespoke home…a fascinating link to two ecclesiastical architects who left an indelible legacy on our built heritage”.
Ashlin, who died in the house in 1921, also built Clongowes Wood, the Jesuit school attended by James Joyce, and the cathedral in Cobh (with Edward Pugin). The house includes five bedrooms, four bathrooms, and “almost every room in St George’s bears the initials of the occupants, be it in the fireplaces, the delicate stained glass windows or on the monogrammed brass handles on every door”.
A large seaside home in Killiney, built by the Irish architect George Ashlin, who was married to AWN Pugin’s daughter, Mary, and was in partnership with Edward Pugin, has been put up for sale for £8,125,524.
St George’s, overlooking Dublin Bay, built in 1876, nine years after Ashlin married Mary Pugin, includes a small oratory “believed to have been added in thanksgiving after the Ashlins were blessed with a daughter after ten years of marriage,” according to The Irish Times. There are monograms and heraldic symbols commemorating the Ashlins and the Pugins on almost every natural material in the house, describing it as “the ultimate bespoke home…a fascinating link to two ecclesiastical architects who left an indelible legacy on our built heritage”.
Ashlin, who died in the house in 1921, also built Clongowes Wood, the Jesuit school attended by James Joyce, and the cathedral in Cobh (with Edward Pugin). The house includes five bedrooms, four bathrooms, and “almost every room in St George’s bears the initials of the occupants, be it in the fireplaces, the delicate stained glass windows or on the monogrammed brass handles on every door”.
The house, visited by the Pugin Society on its Irish study tour, led by Alistair Rowan and Roderick O’Donnell in 2010, has been lived in for almost 30 years by Drs Robert and Jane McQuillan. They moved in when there was no central heating and the moulded woodwork had been painted over.
“The condition was fairly devastating and the grounds were just a spongey carpet of weeds but we knew it was a lovely house with a wonderful view and could be brought back to life The architecture and woodwork were great, ” Dr Jane McQuillan, an opthalmologist told the Pugin Society this week. “It took a lot more work than we expected but it’s been a very happy house with parties and christenings and we hope to have a Mass in the oratory before we leave,” she added. “But we’re both about 70 now and it’s time to move on.”
Mary, the longest surviving of Pugin’s eight children died at the age of 90 in 1933. Miriam Frances Ashlin, her only child, died in 1937. St George’s is being marketed by Knight Frank.
“The condition was fairly devastating and the grounds were just a spongey carpet of weeds but we knew it was a lovely house with a wonderful view and could be brought back to life The architecture and woodwork were great, ” Dr Jane McQuillan, an opthalmologist told the Pugin Society this week. “It took a lot more work than we expected but it’s been a very happy house with parties and christenings and we hope to have a Mass in the oratory before we leave,” she added. “But we’re both about 70 now and it’s time to move on.”
Mary, the longest surviving of Pugin’s eight children died at the age of 90 in 1933. Miriam Frances Ashlin, her only child, died in 1937. St George’s is being marketed by Knight Frank.
Restoration of AWN Pugin’s church inspirational says architect’s great great grandson
The £2 million restoration of St Augustine’s Ramsgate is a fitting tribute to AWN Pugin’s beliefs and values, and an inspiration to future generations, Robert Pugin Purcell told a celebration in the church on June 8th to mark the completion of the two year project, funded by Heritage London Fund grants, and donations.
A descendant of AWN Pugin and his third wife, Jane Knill, who outlived him by 55 years, Robert said: “Pugin described this church as ‘my own child’. For many years he had to build church after church, cathedral after cathedral according to other people’s wishes. This was his ‘ideal’ that he could build as he wished according to true principles of Christian architecture.
“I imagine that little did he realise that it would, in 2018, be a church and monument of such historical importance and great architectural, artistic and cultural significance. Pugin would have been so proud of what has been achieved.”
Threatened with closure in 2010 St Augustine’s was now welcoming 12,000 visitors a year, Father Marcus Holden, rector of St Augustine’s told the celebration, which was attended by restoration architect Paul Sharrock, Bishop Paul Mason of Southwark Archdiocese, and Craig Mackinlay MP for South Thanet, who unveiled a plaque in the adjacent visitor and research centre.
Catriona Blaker, co-founder of the Pugin Society, established in 1995, remembered the dark days when the church was rarely opened, its condition deteriorating and its future very uncertain indeed. “I recall sometimes sitting at the back of the nave on winter Sunday afternoons in a desperate bid to keep the church open for anyone who might want to see it. The lighting and heating had both failed, and muffled in much winter clothing one would stare in the gathering gloom at the High Altar, which at that time stood under the crossing, draped in polythene on to which water steadily dripped from the roof. Dark days indeed.”
In some ways, she said, the Pugin Society’s role was akin to John the Baptist’s preparing the way for a saviour – one had been found. “Father Marcus Holden with his drive, vision and ability to motivate others has achieved something nigh impossible.
“Knowledge of Pugin has grown an hundred fold and it is wonderful that our man Augustus Pugin has been so fully justified and celebrated,” she said.
The £2 million restoration of St Augustine’s Ramsgate is a fitting tribute to AWN Pugin’s beliefs and values, and an inspiration to future generations, Robert Pugin Purcell told a celebration in the church on June 8th to mark the completion of the two year project, funded by Heritage London Fund grants, and donations.
A descendant of AWN Pugin and his third wife, Jane Knill, who outlived him by 55 years, Robert said: “Pugin described this church as ‘my own child’. For many years he had to build church after church, cathedral after cathedral according to other people’s wishes. This was his ‘ideal’ that he could build as he wished according to true principles of Christian architecture.
“I imagine that little did he realise that it would, in 2018, be a church and monument of such historical importance and great architectural, artistic and cultural significance. Pugin would have been so proud of what has been achieved.”
Threatened with closure in 2010 St Augustine’s was now welcoming 12,000 visitors a year, Father Marcus Holden, rector of St Augustine’s told the celebration, which was attended by restoration architect Paul Sharrock, Bishop Paul Mason of Southwark Archdiocese, and Craig Mackinlay MP for South Thanet, who unveiled a plaque in the adjacent visitor and research centre.
Catriona Blaker, co-founder of the Pugin Society, established in 1995, remembered the dark days when the church was rarely opened, its condition deteriorating and its future very uncertain indeed. “I recall sometimes sitting at the back of the nave on winter Sunday afternoons in a desperate bid to keep the church open for anyone who might want to see it. The lighting and heating had both failed, and muffled in much winter clothing one would stare in the gathering gloom at the High Altar, which at that time stood under the crossing, draped in polythene on to which water steadily dripped from the roof. Dark days indeed.”
In some ways, she said, the Pugin Society’s role was akin to John the Baptist’s preparing the way for a saviour – one had been found. “Father Marcus Holden with his drive, vision and ability to motivate others has achieved something nigh impossible.
“Knowledge of Pugin has grown an hundred fold and it is wonderful that our man Augustus Pugin has been so fully justified and celebrated,” she said.
Pugin's St Alban's, Macclesfield Receives a Much Needed Grant for Repairs
As reported by the National Churches Trust, £425,183 in grant money has been allocated to 55 churches and chapels, including St Alban's in Macclesfield. Built in 1841, the church is listed as Grade II* by National Heritage for England. The National Churches Trust Repair Grant will help address urgent roof repairs.
Also receiving funding is St Mary's, Beverley, for whom AW Pugin and EW Pugin supervised restoration efforts, and St Mary's, Lanark, whose reredos, Lady Chapel, and high altar were installed by Pugin and Pugin.
As reported by the National Churches Trust, £425,183 in grant money has been allocated to 55 churches and chapels, including St Alban's in Macclesfield. Built in 1841, the church is listed as Grade II* by National Heritage for England. The National Churches Trust Repair Grant will help address urgent roof repairs.
Also receiving funding is St Mary's, Beverley, for whom AW Pugin and EW Pugin supervised restoration efforts, and St Mary's, Lanark, whose reredos, Lady Chapel, and high altar were installed by Pugin and Pugin.
Pugin Wallpaper in V&A Memorial Trail
A wallpaper designed by AWN Pugin for the Palace of Westminster is featured in a trail established at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, in memory of the murdered MP, Jo Cox. Labour member for Batley and Spen, Jo was murdered in Yorkshire by a right wing extremist in June 2016. Blogging about the trail Tristram Hunt, director of the V&A, said Jo was “a dedicated internationalist , passionate campaigner for social justice, brilliant MP and loving mother. Visitors will be taken on a journey through the museum to discover objects which speak to her life story and values.... From Augustus Pugin’s distinctive Parliament Wallpaper, to an eighteenth century anti-slavery medallion highlighting Jo’s humanitarian work in conflict zones, or a Thomas Creswick painting of Perthshire representing her love of the great British outdoors, our object trail offers a thought-provoking contemplation of the myriad layers of Jo’s inspirational personality and life.” The medallion featured was made for the Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade, made at Josiah Wedgwood’s factory, Etruria, Staffordshire, about 1787. Historian Tristram Hunt, former Labour MP for Stoke-on-Trent Central, spoke on Pugin, medievalism and modernity, at a Pugin Society reception in the House of Commons in March 2012, to mark the architect’s bicentenary. View details of the trail HERE.
A wallpaper designed by AWN Pugin for the Palace of Westminster is featured in a trail established at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, in memory of the murdered MP, Jo Cox. Labour member for Batley and Spen, Jo was murdered in Yorkshire by a right wing extremist in June 2016. Blogging about the trail Tristram Hunt, director of the V&A, said Jo was “a dedicated internationalist , passionate campaigner for social justice, brilliant MP and loving mother. Visitors will be taken on a journey through the museum to discover objects which speak to her life story and values.... From Augustus Pugin’s distinctive Parliament Wallpaper, to an eighteenth century anti-slavery medallion highlighting Jo’s humanitarian work in conflict zones, or a Thomas Creswick painting of Perthshire representing her love of the great British outdoors, our object trail offers a thought-provoking contemplation of the myriad layers of Jo’s inspirational personality and life.” The medallion featured was made for the Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade, made at Josiah Wedgwood’s factory, Etruria, Staffordshire, about 1787. Historian Tristram Hunt, former Labour MP for Stoke-on-Trent Central, spoke on Pugin, medievalism and modernity, at a Pugin Society reception in the House of Commons in March 2012, to mark the architect’s bicentenary. View details of the trail HERE.
Woodchester: A Gothic Vision - Liz Davenport's book includes Pugin's work at Woodchester Mansion
This informative publication regales the reader with an account not only of the history and construction of Woodchester Mansion itself but also of the building of the Catholic Church of the Annunciation and the Dominican Priory at South Woodchester, all part of the vision of the Catholic convert owner of the estate, William Leigh. We in the Pugin Society are only too familiar with tales of ambitious projects such as this, undertaken by highly motivated, devout and wealthy (at the time) Catholics and converts, and of their often melancholy endings. Examples such as Alton Towers, for the sixteenth Earl of Shrewsbury, Croston Hall in Lancashire for the de Trafford family, and Garendon in Leicestershire for Ambrose March Phillips de Lisle spring to mind. Perhaps a major difference in this instance is that whilst the aforesaid buildings are either now demolished, or much reduced, Woodchester Mansion has only ever existed as an unfinished building, and this, as author Liz Davenport suggests, has perhaps helped to make its continued existence possible. Its significance is indeed in its bare and incomplete state, and it is in this haunting and now lovingly conserved condition that visitors can see it. This was made possible by the serving of a compulsory purchase order on the house by Stroud District Council in 1987 and the formation of the Woodchester Mansion Trust in the following year.
Two architects worked for Leigh at Woodchester, C F Hansom and, in particular, the young Benjamin Bucknall, but a third architect was also temporarily involved – Augustus Pugin, and it is his connection with William Leigh that makes this book of particular interest to readers of Present State. Ultimately, Pugin cried off, having produced a plan of the new proposed residence, which was to replace the existing Spring Park Mansion, and two elevations, plus, also, external and internal drawings of the Church of the Annunciation. However, problems regarding the proposed site for the church and the ambitious size of the Dominican Priory which Leigh wanted, and the difficulties of keeping the commission to a budget that was possible for him, became too much for Pugin. He was extremely busy elsewhere also, and in 1846 his personal life was in a state of disarray. The Catholic architect C F Hansom, for professional reasons not one of Pugin’s favourite people, took over and also started work on Woodchester Mansion itself, but not for long. Hansom’s youthful assistant Benjamin Bucknall who, like Leigh, had a great admiration for the great French revivalist Viollet-le-Duc, soon assumed control, designing an outstanding mansion and chapel, a fine example of Victorian Gothic with references to the style of Viollet here and there, both structurally and in some of the detail. Because Leigh’s money ran out and his family, despite various efforts on their part, never really managed to improve satisfactorily upon this situation, the great house remained unfinished; after 1873 when William Leigh died, work came to a standstill. It is this which gives Woodchester its allure, and which it makes possible today to study the raw bones of its original and skilled design, as indeed members of the Pugin Society did when they visited in summer 2010.
The book also covers the history of William Leigh’s antecedents and the reasons for his initial wealth, and goes on to recount the problems of his son Willie and others who inherited Woodchester. The family retained the estate until 1939, after which it went through some difficult periods, until as, mentioned above, the enterprising and energetic Woodchester Mansion Trust was formed. Author Liz Davenport, who has dedicated this book to her co-volunteers at Woodchester, is the Trust’s archivist, and they are lucky to have her. Helped particularly by a rich archive, discovered in Brighton in 2004, and other local sources she has done a thorough and professional job here, with much careful research, referencing and illustrations. This is a fascinating account. Buy it online – all proceeds go the Woodchester Mansion Trust – and, if you can, visit the mansion in its unspoilt and verdant park setting.
This informative publication regales the reader with an account not only of the history and construction of Woodchester Mansion itself but also of the building of the Catholic Church of the Annunciation and the Dominican Priory at South Woodchester, all part of the vision of the Catholic convert owner of the estate, William Leigh. We in the Pugin Society are only too familiar with tales of ambitious projects such as this, undertaken by highly motivated, devout and wealthy (at the time) Catholics and converts, and of their often melancholy endings. Examples such as Alton Towers, for the sixteenth Earl of Shrewsbury, Croston Hall in Lancashire for the de Trafford family, and Garendon in Leicestershire for Ambrose March Phillips de Lisle spring to mind. Perhaps a major difference in this instance is that whilst the aforesaid buildings are either now demolished, or much reduced, Woodchester Mansion has only ever existed as an unfinished building, and this, as author Liz Davenport suggests, has perhaps helped to make its continued existence possible. Its significance is indeed in its bare and incomplete state, and it is in this haunting and now lovingly conserved condition that visitors can see it. This was made possible by the serving of a compulsory purchase order on the house by Stroud District Council in 1987 and the formation of the Woodchester Mansion Trust in the following year.
Two architects worked for Leigh at Woodchester, C F Hansom and, in particular, the young Benjamin Bucknall, but a third architect was also temporarily involved – Augustus Pugin, and it is his connection with William Leigh that makes this book of particular interest to readers of Present State. Ultimately, Pugin cried off, having produced a plan of the new proposed residence, which was to replace the existing Spring Park Mansion, and two elevations, plus, also, external and internal drawings of the Church of the Annunciation. However, problems regarding the proposed site for the church and the ambitious size of the Dominican Priory which Leigh wanted, and the difficulties of keeping the commission to a budget that was possible for him, became too much for Pugin. He was extremely busy elsewhere also, and in 1846 his personal life was in a state of disarray. The Catholic architect C F Hansom, for professional reasons not one of Pugin’s favourite people, took over and also started work on Woodchester Mansion itself, but not for long. Hansom’s youthful assistant Benjamin Bucknall who, like Leigh, had a great admiration for the great French revivalist Viollet-le-Duc, soon assumed control, designing an outstanding mansion and chapel, a fine example of Victorian Gothic with references to the style of Viollet here and there, both structurally and in some of the detail. Because Leigh’s money ran out and his family, despite various efforts on their part, never really managed to improve satisfactorily upon this situation, the great house remained unfinished; after 1873 when William Leigh died, work came to a standstill. It is this which gives Woodchester its allure, and which it makes possible today to study the raw bones of its original and skilled design, as indeed members of the Pugin Society did when they visited in summer 2010.
The book also covers the history of William Leigh’s antecedents and the reasons for his initial wealth, and goes on to recount the problems of his son Willie and others who inherited Woodchester. The family retained the estate until 1939, after which it went through some difficult periods, until as, mentioned above, the enterprising and energetic Woodchester Mansion Trust was formed. Author Liz Davenport, who has dedicated this book to her co-volunteers at Woodchester, is the Trust’s archivist, and they are lucky to have her. Helped particularly by a rich archive, discovered in Brighton in 2004, and other local sources she has done a thorough and professional job here, with much careful research, referencing and illustrations. This is a fascinating account. Buy it online – all proceeds go the Woodchester Mansion Trust – and, if you can, visit the mansion in its unspoilt and verdant park setting.
New Appointment at St Augustine's Ramsgate
The Pugin Society is pleased to see Father Simon Heans now in post as the new Manager of the St Augustine and Pugin Education, Research and Visitor Centre at Pugin’s shrine church of St Augustine in Ramsgate. He will be continuing the good work started here by previous Manager John Coverdale over the last three years. Subsequent to obtaining a History degree from Peterhouse, Cambridge, Father Simon began to teach from 1980 onwards, notably at Lancing College, Sussex (a feast of Gothic Revival buildings, in particular the sensational chapel, mostly the work of ‘The Anglican Pugin’ R H Carpenter), and then took orders as an Anglican priest. Eventually, however, he moved over in 2011 to the Catholic church, through the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, thereafter working as a chaplain, first in a Catholic comprehensive and subsequently in a remand prison. Father Simon’s varied experience, his commitment to Pugin, church history, scholarship and Catholicism (others may wish to adjust the order here) make him just the man for the job. We hope that he and his wife Anne and family will enjoy life in East Kent and we wish him every success.
The Pugin Society is pleased to see Father Simon Heans now in post as the new Manager of the St Augustine and Pugin Education, Research and Visitor Centre at Pugin’s shrine church of St Augustine in Ramsgate. He will be continuing the good work started here by previous Manager John Coverdale over the last three years. Subsequent to obtaining a History degree from Peterhouse, Cambridge, Father Simon began to teach from 1980 onwards, notably at Lancing College, Sussex (a feast of Gothic Revival buildings, in particular the sensational chapel, mostly the work of ‘The Anglican Pugin’ R H Carpenter), and then took orders as an Anglican priest. Eventually, however, he moved over in 2011 to the Catholic church, through the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, thereafter working as a chaplain, first in a Catholic comprehensive and subsequently in a remand prison. Father Simon’s varied experience, his commitment to Pugin, church history, scholarship and Catholicism (others may wish to adjust the order here) make him just the man for the job. We hope that he and his wife Anne and family will enjoy life in East Kent and we wish him every success.
St Peter's, Woolwich, benefits from Heritage Lottery Funds
Congratulations to everyone at Pugin's St Peter's Church, Woolwich, for all that they have done, with help from the Heritage Lottery Fund, to restore and promote St Peter's. They have shared a leaflet about the church's history and restoration, making it available to view online. We hope that anyone looking at this website and reading the church's leaflet will feel inspired to visit this interesting church for themselves, or even perhaps to offer help or support in some way. To view St Peter's leaflet, click HERE.
Congratulations to everyone at Pugin's St Peter's Church, Woolwich, for all that they have done, with help from the Heritage Lottery Fund, to restore and promote St Peter's. They have shared a leaflet about the church's history and restoration, making it available to view online. We hope that anyone looking at this website and reading the church's leaflet will feel inspired to visit this interesting church for themselves, or even perhaps to offer help or support in some way. To view St Peter's leaflet, click HERE.
MPs agree to full decant for Parliament's restoration and renewal
After several hours of debate, MPs voted to leave the Houses of Parliament for the much needed commencement of the restoration and renewal project. Although the full decant is not expected to take place until 2025, this is a step in the right direction. Thank you to all who contacted their representatives to advocate for these much needed repairs. The Guardian provides a concise outline of the vote. However, if you would like to (re)view the proceedings, click HERE and forward to 15:55:11 for the start of the debate.
May we also suggest that you follow The Pugin Society on Facebook where we update and share the latest on the Houses of Parliament and other Pugin-related issues? We hope you will join us there.
After several hours of debate, MPs voted to leave the Houses of Parliament for the much needed commencement of the restoration and renewal project. Although the full decant is not expected to take place until 2025, this is a step in the right direction. Thank you to all who contacted their representatives to advocate for these much needed repairs. The Guardian provides a concise outline of the vote. However, if you would like to (re)view the proceedings, click HERE and forward to 15:55:11 for the start of the debate.
May we also suggest that you follow The Pugin Society on Facebook where we update and share the latest on the Houses of Parliament and other Pugin-related issues? We hope you will join us there.
MPs to Vote on Vacating Parliament for Renovation Works
MPs are set to hold a free vote in the Commons to determine what, if anything, will be done regarding the much-needed restoration of the Houses of Parliament. However, The Guardian reports that "some [MPs] say [the] move out of Palace of Westminster for multibillion-pound restoration [is] unnecessary."
MPs will consider the folllowing options:
• Full decant. Commons and Lords both move out of the Palace of Westminster to buildings nearby while total renovation works take place. Estimated cost: £3.5bn over six years.
• Partial decant. Move the Commons off site first, then the Lords, renovating each in turn. Estimated cost: £4.4bn over 11 years.
• Refurbish on site. Commons and Lords chambers would still have to move, probably to Westminster Hall, during a rolling programme of upgrade works. Estimated cost: £5.7bn over 35 years.
Now would be a good time to contact your MP to express your support for the full and immediate restoration of this historic national treasure.
MPs are set to hold a free vote in the Commons to determine what, if anything, will be done regarding the much-needed restoration of the Houses of Parliament. However, The Guardian reports that "some [MPs] say [the] move out of Palace of Westminster for multibillion-pound restoration [is] unnecessary."
MPs will consider the folllowing options:
• Full decant. Commons and Lords both move out of the Palace of Westminster to buildings nearby while total renovation works take place. Estimated cost: £3.5bn over six years.
• Partial decant. Move the Commons off site first, then the Lords, renovating each in turn. Estimated cost: £4.4bn over 11 years.
• Refurbish on site. Commons and Lords chambers would still have to move, probably to Westminster Hall, during a rolling programme of upgrade works. Estimated cost: £5.7bn over 35 years.
Now would be a good time to contact your MP to express your support for the full and immediate restoration of this historic national treasure.
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Remembering Gavin Stamp
The Society is sad to learn that the architectural historian and conservationist Gavin Stamp passed away on the 30th December. A long-time supporter of the Pugin Society, Gavin was active in leading outings and contributing his vast insight to True Principles. Committee members Catriona Blaker and Julia Twigg discuss his lasting impact on the Pugin Society and the architectural community at large HERE. |
The Houses of Parliament's 'Restoration and Renewal' plan delayed once again
News that the decision on how to proceed with the 'Restoration and Renewal' plan is set to be postponed for 18 months comes as a bitter blow to those who realise that, as the BBC states, "the buildings of the Palace of Westminster are deteriorating faster than running repairs can be made" and that when work does begin, the cost will undoubtedly have risen.
For an idea of the current state of the building, read "Fires, floods and mice: What it's like to work in a crumbling Parliament" and be sure to have tissues at hand as the enormity of the situation is laid bare. One can only wonder why those elected officials who are privileged enough to work in this iconic building and act as its guardians are the last to realize the pressing urgency of the task at hand, for the 'Restoration and Renewal' is soon to turn to rubble and ruin if action is not taken.
News that the decision on how to proceed with the 'Restoration and Renewal' plan is set to be postponed for 18 months comes as a bitter blow to those who realise that, as the BBC states, "the buildings of the Palace of Westminster are deteriorating faster than running repairs can be made" and that when work does begin, the cost will undoubtedly have risen.
For an idea of the current state of the building, read "Fires, floods and mice: What it's like to work in a crumbling Parliament" and be sure to have tissues at hand as the enormity of the situation is laid bare. One can only wonder why those elected officials who are privileged enough to work in this iconic building and act as its guardians are the last to realize the pressing urgency of the task at hand, for the 'Restoration and Renewal' is soon to turn to rubble and ruin if action is not taken.
Caroline Shenton warns "Big Ben is falling silent. It's our final warning to save the Houses of Parliament."
As restoration work on Big Ben gets underway, former Parliamentary Archives director and scheduled speaker for the Pugin Society's 2017 AGM Caroline Shenton writes in The Guardian that unless something is done "The Palace will either suffer a major catastrophe such as a fire similar to the one which burned down the old Houses of Parliament in 1834, or a series of cumulative smaller failures...which will bring the infrastructure of the Palace to a standstill, or cause irreparable damage to Charles Barry and AWN Pugin’s masterpiece." Read the full article HERE and urge your MP to address this impending crisis before it is too late.
As restoration work on Big Ben gets underway, former Parliamentary Archives director and scheduled speaker for the Pugin Society's 2017 AGM Caroline Shenton writes in The Guardian that unless something is done "The Palace will either suffer a major catastrophe such as a fire similar to the one which burned down the old Houses of Parliament in 1834, or a series of cumulative smaller failures...which will bring the infrastructure of the Palace to a standstill, or cause irreparable damage to Charles Barry and AWN Pugin’s masterpiece." Read the full article HERE and urge your MP to address this impending crisis before it is too late.
