Temples, ancient and modern : or, Notes on church architecture

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TEMPLES.

Preface

In order to state briefly the object of this work, it will be sufficient to repeat my answer to the question of an old friend, whose habit it is to indulge a certain cynical humour in deploring " the lamentable inferiority of modern architecture when compared with that of the middle ages." " My object is," said I, " to set aside your vocation, and to endeavour to excite among architects a spirit of enquiry such as cannot fail to prevent a repetition of those improprieties, the existence of which, in our public edifices, has so long afforded subject for your complaints, and matter for your criticism."

I would put an end to that inconsistency which is the cause of error — the tyranny of custom and the caprice of fashion — which while they compel the modern architect to copy in little and with meaner materials, the sublime works of revered antiquity, indulge a laugh at his expense, because his reproduction fails to excite those sensations of pleasure and admiration which arc inseparable from the contemplation of the original.

The architects of our modern churches arc in general induced to adopt the pointed style of archiviii. PREFACE.

tecture ; while tlie material in which they are compelled to work was wholly rejected hy their great predecessors in the middle ages. The pointed style of architecture, its character, its beauties, and even its faults, are essentially those of construction in stone. Had that substance been wanting, the style would not have existed, and a candid consideration of the criticisms I have collected will, I think, make it clear that the chief defects of modern imitation arise not so much from a want of acquaintance with the style as from the necessity of adapting it to the littleness and poverty of a brick construction. In all the great exemplars of the middle ages, stone alone is used ; had brick been adopted, we have every reason to believe that the artists of those days would have adapted their style to its peculiarities, as they did to those of stone. The royal robes of a monarch are grand and dignified when " purple and fine linen " are their fabric, but let their form be imitated in paper and tinsel, and they excite only contempt and derision. The effect of a building owes much more to its materiel than is generally imagined ; but this is too often overlooked, or mistakenly regarded as a matter of indifference, while the style engrosses the deepest attention of the architect.

The superiority of the City churches over those recently erected is attributable mainly to the component substances of which they are constructed ; and, as one

PREFACE.

ix result of my investigations, I may observe, in connection with these edifices, that notwithstanding his errors of detail, the general style and the materials of Sir Christopher Wren, are almost the perfection of Protestant church building.

If, then, we be too poor to afford erections of stone, is it necessary, is it fitting, that we should continue to caricature the sublime conceptions of our ancient ecclesiastical architects by imitating their works in a material which they rejected as unworthy to embody them ? Let us, till better days arrive — till the public mind is more enlightened, and the public eye more instructed — practise in the Italian style, in which buildings may be constructed of almost any materials ; and which, with the strictest propriety, will bear the utmost extent of enrichment, and will preserve all the pittoresco of the Gothic, even when executed with a Quaker-like plainness. The great advantage, therefore, of this style is, that small as may be the sum appropriated, a church may be erected for that sum ; which, while it humbly answers the purposes of the building, may also do honour to the architect. But to compose in the Italian style will certainly require a knowledge of the principles of design, in order to effect any thing like a harmonious arrangement ; and it will put a stop to the practice of going to Stuart's Athens for a portico, and applying it, no matter how, and no matter where ; a practice, in

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PREFACE.

reference to which the late Sir John Soane observed to me some years since, " My footman is as good an architect as I am."

That the principles of design in the Grecian and in the Gothic styles of architecture are widely different, must surely be conceded ; an attentive examination of their peculiarities will abundantly prove this, the very essence of expression in the fine arts " being to produce the resemblance of a thing, but in some other thing which becomes the image of it." The architectural student will also find many excellent hints for the composition of buildings in the Italian style, in the backgrounds of the pictures of the old masters, the predecessors of Raffaelle.

The theory of the origin of architecture suggested in these pages may, by some persons, be considered too fanciful. It is true the subject has been investigated, unawed by the authority and influence of mere names.*

* By taking up things without enquiry we frequently establish and perpetuate the grossest errors ; thus, for instance, no two architectural words have been so misapplied and misunderstood as Piazza and Oriel — a Gothic bay window is the idea generally suggested by the latter : now in the middle ages I am not aware of its ever being so applied, but we find it made use of to express: — 1st. A Pent-house. 2nd. A Porch attached to any edifice. 3rd. A Detached Cate-house. 4th. An Upper Story. 5th. A Gallery for Minstrels. — How frequently also do we hear of persons meeting under the Piazza in Covent Garden : now " Piazza" is a word which, having been corrupted to mean an" arcade and a colonnade, has given rise to a confusion of ideas. It answers to our word square ox plain, in street architecture. The Piazza de Spagna at Rome is triangular; the Piazza di San Pietro is eliptical : and

PREFACE.

xi

I do not flatter myself with having done more than open the enquiry ; the step I have taken will, I hope, be followed by some of tho;e able men who ornament our Universities, who, with more leisure than a professional man's pursuits will allow, are also endowed with talents and learning to which I do not pretend. If we may judge from two or three treatises lately set forth, there are among them men perfectly competent to achieve an enterprise which I can hardly hope is more than indicated in these pages.

In order to point out the principles on which is founded a just and correct taste in church architecture, I have thought it right to trace them as they rise in a historical examination of the temples of all ages and countries. It is by such an examination only that we can discover the general principles of architectural composition, on which the effect of those buildings depends.

If it be thought that I have in some instances recommended a style and class of edifices too expensive for our age, let the utilitarian be reminded, that money expended in public buildings is not an outlay on the part

many piazzc in Rome arc of any shape, or no shape. In Norwich, Yarmouth, and some other old towns, wherever there is an open space surrounded by houses, it is called a plain ; thus St. Mary's Plain, the Theatre Plain, &c. : and the word plain, in this restricted sense, exactly answers to the Italian piazza.

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PREFACE.

of a country, but a most useful and oeconomical application of the national resources. Some conception may be formed of the vast sums expended on the embellishment of ancient Athens, under the direction of that true political ceconomist, the illustrious Pericles, when it is stated, that the cost of the Parthenon alone is computed at a hundred talents of gold ; although, from the multitude of slaves, manual labour was at a low price, and the materials were the produce of the country.

Attica was not impoverished by these sacrifices ; nor would England, if a part of her enormous capital were similarly employed. The lowest class of the people would benefit, directly, by the sweet rewards of labour -y and the splendour of her works of art would make the poorest son of the soil proud of the country they adorned.

The early chapters of this work were written, as the reader will readily perceive from the tone and matter, before the Chancellor of the Exchequer had explained to Parliament the Ministerial measure on the subject of church-rates. No allusion therefore to that measure could have been intended by the Author ; with him the question was, between church-rates and no provision for the church.

I cannot close these prefatory remarks without acknowledging the gratitude I feel for the kind interest in the progress of my work, evinced even by the highest

PREFACE.

xiii and the noblest in the land ; but it might appear like vanity, rather than gratitude, were I to express myself more clearly. I must not, however, omit to mention one instance of warm-heartedness, for which I feel a deep sense of obligation. I allude to Mr. Brayley, of the Russell Institution, who, almost a stranger, has exhibited towards me the kindness of a friend.

If the f * Notes" I have here thrown together should be found to merit attention, my labour will be rewarded ; and great indeed will be my gratification if they should the means of restoring to sacred architecture be its ancient and appropriate character.

ERRATA.

ell, line 4 of Note, for " cause," read " cure." 16, for " Frazer's," read " Fraser's."

55, line 8, for " Religion thus being," read " Religion then being.' 156, line 5, for " three first Edwards," read " first three Edwards.

CHAP. 16. On Columns and Porticos 169

CHAP. 17. Inefficiency of Skill without Taste ; of Rule, unless animated by Genius — Political Importance of Public Works — Architecture a

Test of National Character 176

CHAP. 18. The Great National Advantages to be derived from the Cultivation of a Pure Taste — Increase of Architectural Taste in England

— The Public Monuments of France 187

CHAP. 19. Principles for Building New Churches 196

CHAP. 20. On Interiors 212

CHAP. 21. Music in Church Worship 228

LIST

OF PLATES.

No. Page

1. Whitby Abbey Frontispiece.

2. Preston Church 24

3. Temple at Keswick 54

4. Pharaoh's Banner . 81

5. Atrium 94

6. Church of St. Mary Woolnoth 96

7. Mausoleum of Shere Shah 115

8. Roman Interior, Exterior, &c. . 100

9. Saxon Interior 132

10. Church of St. Mary, Temple 154

11. Whitby Abbey 153

12. Plan for Altering City Churches }

13. Exterior of design for do. do S-198

14. Interior do. do 3

ANCIENT AND MODERN.

Chap. I

THE GENERAL SUBJECT OPENED — NECESSITY OF NEW CHURCHES- ARGU- MENTS IN FAVOUR OF LIMITED PARISHES - ATTACHMENT TO THE CHURCH — ARCHITECTURAL PROPRIETY A CAUSE OF THAT ATTACH- MENT.

PETHAnCA.

F the discussion on the momentous SB question of erecting .1 numl)er of ncw cliurclies for the service of the ' National Religion, the first legitimate result is — a strong conviction that the division of large parishes is prefcrahle to the erection of chapels of ease.

The source of this conviction is the manifest attachment of the people to the mother church, which is surrounded in their memories with a reverence that cannot by possibility attach to any chapel or minor edifice, to which associations connected with the parochial church are wanting. The fane in which we are devoted to the service of God, and enrolled at once in the registers of earth and heaven, is incxpressibly dear to the memory in after times and in distant lands ; the personal ceremonies of confirmation, and perhaps of marriage within our own consciousness, and the attendance at the

is celebration of similar events in our families and among our friends and neighbours, are ties to the parish church, which are not the less strong because unrecognized until occasion compel us to regard and acknowledge them. Where the church is remarkable as an edifice it resembles still more strongly a sacred banner, lifting the eyes and thoughts together above the ordinary level, and attracting towards itself a common sympathy and veneration. When it becomes the tomb of the good and great, when its spire rises heavenward from the earth beneath which lie the bones of our fathers, our regard becomes a holy and exalted feeling ; — and of the pure spirit to which these associations tend, the Temple should be worthy.

If proof were wanting of this strong attachment to the parish church, when, it is calculated, as a building, to attract regard, we might remind the reader of " Kett's Rebellion in Norfolk,'' when the " Commissioners" dishonestly unroofed Wymondham Abbey-church, after having been paid for the lead which covered it by the inhabitants. Other proofs of this feeling appear, in the pride the men of York and Lincoln take in their minsters and parochial churches — the miles that the yeomen of the Fens rode into Lincoln when an accident to " Great Tom" excited their interest and curiosity — the passion with which clergy and laity debated the position that the famous screen should occupy in York Minster, — the rising of the parishioners of St. Margaret's, Westminster, against the Protector, Somerset, when he attempted to demolish their church; — not the present mongrel structure, but that erected in the time of Edward IV., of which the elegance may be imagined by the pillars and arches still remaining * ; — and the defence of the

* Some persons are now proposing the removal of this church in order to obtain a better view of the Abbey :— Why not remove the north transept also? and then a fine perspective of the whole flank would be gained without obstruction, according to the principles of design laid down by Mii.izia, in his " Lives of Architects." That arch-destructive, Wyatt, pulled down the bell-tower of Salis-

ANCIENT AND MODERN.

Cathedral of St. Mungo, at Glasgow, by the populace when the Puritans proposed its demolition. These are proofs of the regard of the people towards their churches, as things touching their best inheritance ; and these illustrations — a few gathered from the multitude, of similar instances — may seem to exemplify the degree to which the living principle of local attachment may be strengthened by a single class of monuments and traditions, provided always that the visible object be worthy, as a work of art, to embody and represent the invisible sources of the veneration and affection it demands and stimulates.

But are our modern churches, as works of art, calculated to embalm themselves in our recollection, and to be recalled by the comparison of them with the works of other architects and the temples of other worshippers ? Since the days of Queen Anne few parochial churches have been erected worthy of such distinction !

bury Cathedral ; laid bare the interior of Durham, and commenced the removal of its matchless Galilee; and with "axes and hammers" made havoc with the " carved work" of Lichfield, for the same reason, or rather, want of reason. Such are a few only of the deplorable results of applying the principles of one style to improve another. Gothic architecture has always the charm of mystery ; it does not exhibit itself naked and bare like a Greek temple, perched on a rock ; but it appeals to the imagination, veiling itself with walls, and screens, and towers; inducing fancy to supply the deficiencies of the material scene: it delights in bold, striking, and picturesque irregularities, and always appears larger than its actual dimensions : the mouldings, the pillars, the arches, always create receding shadows and, to the eye, the idea of space arises from the succession of shadows and multitudinous parts of unequal dimensions, just as the conception of time results from the succession of ideas. Remove not St. Margaret's, restore it if you please, there are plenty of examples of the time as authorities ; modify its hideous galleries, and supersede its Batty- Langi.i;y porch, and its alms-house windows, but the Abbey church has already been too much deprived of its subordinate features; it formerly arose a magnificent apex to a royal palace, surrounded by its own greater and lesser sanctuaries, its greater and lesser almonries, its bell-towers, gatehouses, boundary-walls, and a train of other buildings of which we at the present day scarcely form an idea. We, indeed, can but faintly imagine, tin former glories of Westminster Abbey.

THMI'LES,

The churches in France, in their various and appropriate decorations, as in architectural heauty, generally please the stranger. Not used as places of sepulture, they are free from the damp and unhealthy effluvia common to our older churches, whose foundations lie among the accumulated dead, the decay of ages of mortality ; and yet, not being devoid of " storied urn, or animated bust," we have the pleasing and instinctive associations of departed virtue, without the painful sense of proximity to the buried dead. No excluding pews deface the beauty, or limit the freedom, of the house of God ; all is open, light, and cheerful : here are the storied window, the sculptured column, and painted canvas to teach the unlearned the truths of sacred scripture ; the cathedrals of Amiens, Rheims, Chartres, &c. are indeed Embellished Bibles ; they represent to the eye what the perusal of the scripture impresses on the mind; but their language is more forcible than words, and capable of being read without previous tuition. Now, as the art of man is an effluence of the direct inspiration of divinity, can such a dedication of its achievements be displeasing to the source from whence it springs ?

London, the largest and richest capital in the world, presents in this respect a melancholy contrast to the metropolitan cities of the continent. The east end of the town, although far inferior in our day to its condition at the distance of two centuries, still abounds in noble specimens of the munificence of former ages. View it from whatever point you will it still presents the strongly marked features of a vast capital. Not so is it with the modern town, the additions to the ancient city. The parish of Mary-le-bone alone equals in population and extent, and far exceeds in riches, any one of our old provincial cities ; but, while each of them has its cathedral and some dozen of beauteous churches, here the eye passes reluctantly over long-continued lines of unmeaning brick and mortar, with here and there a poor apology for a steeple, feebly

ANCIENT AND MODERN.

breaking the dreary waste, and scarcely relieving its monotony. Not one church have the great land-owners of this district reared for the accommodation of any portion of the thousands who densely people their estates. Is thiswise? Is it just? Our forefathers made enormous personal sacrifices to raise those piles which are the glory of our land. William of Malmesiiury says, the custom of expressing religious fervour by building a church or monastery prevailed to such a degree, that a rich man would have thought he had lived in vain if he had not left such a monument of his piety and munificence. Hence it is that our old cities are recognised from afar by the tall spires or lofty towers of their churches, hallowing all the landscape, and impressing us with the conviction that there God is worshipped, and the effects of piety are evident. How strong the contrast between such a scene and that presented to the eye at the approach to one of our modern towns. Of course the superstition of the former is not commendable, nor the industry and science of the latter to be spoken of without respect: but was it superstition alone that induced men to devote such sums of money to purposes of piety and charity ? Count up the endowments of the church before she was despoiled ; imagine the cost of the Minster of York, or Durham, or Ely, or Lincoln, or of our colleges and schools ; the expences of their erection, endowment, and daily support, and if indeed the sacrifice of worldly wealth to the building of palaces for learning, temples for religion, and homes for poverty, be superstition, it is an abused word and represents a virtue. Superstition ! we blush for those who will not only not imitate the good deeds of their ancestors, but want hearts to understand even the frame of mind, the heroic piety, which prompted their exertions.

Horace, in many passages, imputes the manifestation of divine protection to the pious care bestowed on temples consecrated to deity; while, among the monuments of the middle ages, we often find a model of a church placed in the hand of the founder's statue ; here is a species of mutually reflecting light between the heathen creed and the christian practice ; and if it were necessary to show by argument, that a pious care of God's house is a rational mode of seeking God's favour, the experience of every day might afford abundant proof : where is he that hath endowed a church who afterwards found cause to repent his pious sacrifice ? unhappily the example is of too infrequent occurrence. Shall we, in this day of light and of knowledge, be put to shame by the superior works of our forefathers in all ages ? Have we the means of building extensive and magnificent gaols, bridges, roads, and workhouses, and yet have nothing to spare towards affording the people at large the means of attending divine worship, according to the creed of their fathers ? Shall a nation, possessing a revenue superior in amount to the combined resources of all the other states of Europe, have no portion of that vast fund to bestow on the religion which is our safeguard here and our only means of happiness hereafter ?

The Church of England, formed on the purest model of Christianity, endeavours, in her ceremonies, to avoid with equal care the pomp of superstition, and the meagre negligence of sectarian worship; but anxious that all should be done according to the Apostle's injunction, " decently and in order;'' she does not despise, although she does not lay much stress on externals. But her ritual is the national form of worship, her buildings are, therefore, public edifices ; consequently she requires temples commensurate both with her high purpose, and with the dignity of the British nation. Private liberality cannot fully accomplish this, nor is it even just that the wise and good should be doubly taxed, that the careless or indifferent man may be spared from contribution to promote the general good. We see what the voluntary system effects in the four walls and mere covering from the inclemency of the seasons —

ANCIENT AND MODERN.

the meeting-house — this is said without meaning any disrespect ; for these buildings, humble as they arc, have often been raised, by noble instances of individual exertion and self-denial.* I am aware of the argument, that the Church of England, under the name of tithes, already possesses a sufficient fund for all the purposes of support to the ministry, the building, endowment, and maintenance of churches ; and in addition, can provide for the poor, independantly of any levy under the names of church-rate or poor-rate, and without appeal to the liberality of parliament. If the alienated lands and buildings, and the impropriated revenues of the church were restored to her, and if it were a practice of the present, as it was a characteristic of passed ages to increase, by a multitude of means, her income, fixed and fluctuating, we might be called upon to meet this argument ; but now when the fact is established, beyond the power of contradiction, that more than one landed proprietor in this kingdom might pay the whole of the stipends of the parochial clergy of Ireland out of his annual income, and leave £'20,000 a year for his own individual use ; and when it is known that the whole property of the Church of England would not divide among its ministers, so as to leave them £250 a year each ; it is absurd to regard such a proposition as tenable or deserving of answer. The erection of churches, one at least for every 5,000 of the population, or in the proportion of one church to GOO houses, is the first step towards making the establishment more extensively known to the people, in its beneficent and maternal character : this, with the proper organization of parishes, would do more for the church than the new-fangled reforms and intermeddling which

* John WESLEY was well aware of the ineffieiency of the voluntary system when he ordained a perpetual fund to be raised by a minimum subscription of a penny a week from every member of his communion : hence it is that the Wesleyans find no difficulty in building a place of worship wherever the wants of their members require it.

is sanctioned by her good but timid friends, on the demands of her avowed or suspected foes. The parochial administration, lately introduced, is in direct opposition to that which the experience of ages has proved to be the best. In the old towns, where parishes are small, we have peace, subordination, and attachment to the church and constitution ; in the new towns, where parishes are large, and their administrative organization imperfect, perpetual mobs and agitation, turmoil and confusion, infidelity and disloyalty. As old Quarles says : —

" Soul-boiling rage, and trouble-state sedition And giddy doubt and goggle-eyed suspicion."

Compare for example, the quiet well ordered parishes in the city, with that want of veneration for all that is great and good in the land, which is manifested in the suburbs — or the courteous and respectful demeanor of the inhabitants of Harrow, with the turbulent and vicious disposition of the lower classes at Brentford. Let us return to the wise practice of our ancestors, and have our districts so small that the inhabitants may know and remedy abuses, instead of depending for everything on the omnipotence of parliament. The word " centralization " is as foreign to our language as the practice is to that wise policy by which our ancient parishes were rendered each a little community, the affairs of which were as well ordered as those of a private family, as long as the minister and parochial officers performed their duties. The excessive growth of parishes, especially in London, is a great foe to this orderly and convenient system of subdivision, this admirable species of self-control, management, and direction in each parish respectively ; and it is an evil which railroads will tend to increase, by bringing food and commodities more rapidly to London, with a consequent more rapid increase of population.

These considerations should the more forcibly impress on the public mind, the necessity of restoring and establishing

ANCIENT AND MODERN.

independent communities, and subdividing extensive districts, for the purposes of local government. There is sufficient opportunity— nay demand, for legislative interference where parochial subscribers and individual liberality cannot avail, and it is the duty of the state to provide for the general want out of the general means. Reason, then, tells us that our course should be to separate the overgrown parishes, not partially but entirely, and organize new parishes in the original manner, and with the needful officers ; to appropriate to each new parish a part of the revenues of the mother church, and provide for the present incumbent with a prebend, or a deanery, as vacancies occur. But these are matters of detail, the principle is all that I insist on. In London, however, the surplus revenue of the see, will, in less than twenty years, accumulate a fund sufficient for the endowment of several churches.

But our excellent and active diocesan has shown, that in the capital alone fifty new churches are absolutely required. And, indeed, where masses of the population have grown up in heathenism or sectarian error, the church requires for her safety and her efficacy the immediate erection of new churches ; now the state is bound to secure the former, and liberally to maintain the latter. This is the argument of Dr. Chalmers, who has so deeply studied the details, and so clearly explained the principles of civic economy. " Let each family," he says, " be supplied with a church, so near that they may enjoy the public ministration of a clergyman ; and each clergyman provided with a territory so moderate, that by his week-day labours he may ply the attentions of Christianity and kindness upon all the families of his congregation." This necessity was apparent in the reign of Anne, who decreed the erection of fifty churches, but of them only eleven were completed, so grievously was her good intent frustrated.

That religion is honoured in our days by the erection of

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LO temples worthy of her sublimity and beauty cannot be contended. We are indebted to her for the most magnificent monuments of architecture ; but architecture is no wlittle obliged to devotion for protection and encouragement, nor does the art with filial piety endeavour to adorn its parent.

■ ncc grata parenti

A church should be erected near the west-end of the Bason in the Green Park, with a fine portico and cupola, something in the style of the Super g a, or like the church of the Assumption at Paris ; and another church, in the lancet - arch style, with a very lofty spire, near Chesterfield Gate, Hyde Park. These churches are features absolutely necessary to that part of the metropolis ; and money for their erection should be voted by parliament, if we would not merit the charge of infidelity or barbarism, now justly urged against us by the stranger, who, enteringLondon by