St Bernadette's, Allerton, Liverpool

Note the Roman severity of this basilican interior.

All Souls, Weaste, Salford

As promised in Newsletter Number 1, Dr Allan Mitchinson's photo of all that was left of the mosaic floor of All Souls, after the demolition of the church. I suspect that nothing is left now.

The Round Arch. Newsletter Number 3

The Round Arch Newsletter Number 3 (July 2016)

I have neglected this blog, partly because of the re-organisation of the journal of the North West Catholic History Society, which I am still helping to edit, and partly because I have been busy working on my doctoral thesis, which has resulted in the award of my degree.

This newsletter has been prompted by the closure of one of our churches, St Bernadette's, Allerton, Liverpool, though the building is still standing.  I will try to keep you informed about this.
With the continued declined in the numbers of Catholic clergy and laity, the closure of more churches is inevitable, though we ought to be able to prevent their demolition by securing their conversion to other uses.
Meanwhile, please keep an eye on Byzantine-Romanesque churches of all denominations.

My Artifice of Eternity has been remaindered. If you want a copy, including Supplements, please send me a cheque for £5.

J. A. Hilton

St John the Evangelist, CofE, Bolton Rd, Irlams o’th’Height (1842)
 (photo by Mrs Josie Potkin)
Architect unknown but possibly William Hayley. Chancel added in 1859-60, baptistery in 1882, and interior remodelled in 1881. (Hartwell, Hyde and Pevsner, Buildings of England: Lancashire: Manchester and the South-East, p. 561. Note that the Anglicans used the round-arch style some fifty years before the Roman Catholics.

The Round Arch
The Newsletter of the Byzantine-Romanesque Revival Group
Number 2 (November 2013)

I have at last got around to bringing out this belated Number 2 of the Newsletter. In Number 1 asked for suggestions for establishing a website or blog. Mr Brian Farrimond kindly responded by setting up a blog at
www.theroundarch.blogspot.co.uk
It contains Number 1 of this Newsletter and Number 2 will be added to it. I also hope to add the various photographs of churches sent to me by members. Putting photos on the blog rather than in the Newsletter will perhaps be welcome to those members who receive the Newsletter by e-mail.

My The Artifice of Eternity: The Byzantine-Romanesque Revival in Catholic Lancashire has been remaindered as is now available directly from me (post-free) at £10 (cheques should be made payable to Mr J. A. Hilton) at
282 Whelley
Wigan
Lancashire
WN2 1DA
Newsletter Number 1 mentioned that two free supplements were available from me. There are now a total of five such supplements. They cover: 1, All Souls and St John Vianney, Salford (now demolished); 2, Our Lady of the Rosary, Leigh; 3, St Joseph, Heywood; 4, English Martyrs, Urmston; 5, Our Lady of Lourdes, Southport. They are all available (free) from me. I would be grateful to be informed of any other neo-Byzantine Romanesque Catholic churches in the historic county of Lancashire that I have missed.

My Antonio Barluzzi: Architect of the Holy Places is still available from me at £1 (post-free).

Two interesting articles appeared this year in Andamento: the journal of the British Association for Modern Mosaic, vol. 7 (2013). One was Robert Field, ‘A Legacy of Inspiration and Beauty: Eric Newton and the Oppenheimer Family Firm’. Here in Lancashire Eric Newton is probably best known for his mosaic east end of St John’s, Rochdale, arguably the finest neo-Byzantine church in the county, but the Oppenheimers were also responsible for work at Lille Cathedral, Armagh Cathedral, Killarney Cathedral, Cobh Cathedral, Killlarney Cathedral, the National Library and the National Museum of Ireland, the University of Cork, Holy Cross in Charlesville, St Olcan’s in Armoy, the Redemptorist Monastery in Belfast, the Royal Hospital School in Holbrook, Our Lady and St John in Manchester, and the Sacred Heart in Sheffield. The other was Paul Bentley, ‘The Mosaicing of Westminster Cathedral: Past, Present and Future’. Several artists have worked on the mosaics for Westminster Cathedral, including Robert Annning Bell W. C. Symons, J. W. Clayton, Gilbert Pownall, Boris Anrep, Trevor Caley, Christopher Hobbs, Tom Phillips, and Leonard McComb, and the process is ongoing. Andamento is obtainable from the Association’s website at www.bamm.org.uk for £9-98.
 

Bentley’s Best

 A new book by Patrick Rogers, Westminster Cathedral: An Illustrated History (Oremus £20 but it is available from Amazon for £15) has sparked an article on baldacchinos by Christopher House, ‘The best thing Bentley built’ in his Sacred Mysteries column in The Daily Telegraph. The article is on-line at http://www.telegraph.co.uk .

The Round Arch

The Newsletter of the Byzantine-Romanesque Revival Group

Number 1 (April 2012)

I announced the formation of the group at the annual conference of the North West Catholic History Society in September 2011, but have only just got round to compiling this newsletter. There is no formal organisation for this group and no subscription. The newsletter will normally be distributed by e-mail, but members who do not have e-mail will be sent it by post. If you know anyone who would like to join, please let them have my e-mail or postal address:
J.A. Hilton
282 Whelley
Wigan
Lancashire
WN2 1DA

Contributions to this newsletter from members are welcome.

It is non-denominational, i.e. not confined to Roman Catholics and/or Roman Catholic churches.

I would also welcome any suggestions as to establishing a website or blog.

I would also welcome suggestions for a snappier title for this group.

The formation of this group was suggested by

The Bad News

Which is that the Catholic church of All Souls and St John Vianney, Liverpool Street, Weaste, Salford, architect William Ellis, built 1932-34, in the neo-Romanesque style, its east end decorated with blue and gold mosaics by Dinnelli & Figli of Pietrasanta, having been closed on All Souls’ Day, 2 November 2010, has subsequently been demolished. I understand that some of its fittings have been removed to the church of the Mother of God and St James, Pendleton Way, Salford, M6 5JA. My own photos of the exterior and interior of the now demolished church are below, together with Dr Allan Mitchinson’s photo of the remnants of its mosaic floor. More photographs are available on
www.stjamesandallsouls.co.uk/gallery.htm

In present circumstances the Catholic Church in England finds itself obliged to close churches, but alternative uses should be found for them rather than demolition. Unfortunately this building was not Listed. I suggest that if this building had been neo-Gothic, a campaign might have been launched to save it, which is why I decided to form this group.

 All Souls & St John Vianney, Weaste, Salford

 All Souls & St John Vianney, Weaste, Salford

The Good News

is that SS Peter and Paul, New Brighton, which was closed in 2008, has been re-opened, and entrusted by the Bishop of Shrewsbury to the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest for the celebration of the liturgy in the Old or Tridentine or Extraordinary Latin Rite. (See the photographs below.) This neo-Byzantine church, opened in 1935, was the work of Ernest Bower Norris of Manchester. (See Brian Plumb, Catholic Cheshire (Wigan, 2001).

SS Peter & Paul, New Brighton

SS Peter & Paul, New Brighton













Moreover,  Teresa Sladen and Andrew Saint (eds), Studies in Victorian Architecture and Design, Volume Three, Churches 1870-1914 (Victorian Society, London, 2011), contains Saint’s ‘The late Victorian church’, which culminates with Byzantine Westminster Cathedral, and Sladen’s sympathetic, ‘Byzantium in the chancel: surface decoration and the church interior’, which begins with the perceptive ‘It was only when the Byzantine Revival became entwined with the Arts and Crafts Movement at the end of the 19th century that it came into full flower.

Meanwhile, Mrs Josie Potkin has kindly sent me the photograph below of All Souls, Every St, Ancoats, Manchester. This Anglican, Commissioners’ church in the neo-Romanesque style was built in 1839-40 by William Hayley (see Pevsner). It is now a wood store.

All Souls, Every St, Ancoats, Manchester












Dr Phillip Dixon has sent me a number of photographs taken on his travels through England, and I will put them in our next newsletter, if I can persuade my PC to let me do so.

My The Artifice of Eternity: The Byzantine-Romanesque Revival in Catholic Lancashire is still available for £18 (post-free) payable to North West Catholic History Society from
Mr B. T. Farrimond
11 Tower Hill
Ormskirk
Lancashire
L39 2EE
Since its publication I have added two supplements, which are available free from me.
Also available from me is my Antonio Barluzzi: Architect of the Holy Places at £1 (post-free) payable to Mr J. A. Hilton.