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WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
VOL. II
'msm
John Feancis Bentley, cctat. 5'J.
{From a photograph by his son Osmond.)
[Frontispisct, II.
WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL
AND ITS ARCHITECT
BY
WINEFRIDE DE L'HOPITAL
THE MAKING OF THE ARCHITECT
WITH 160 ILLUSTRATIONS
IN TWO VOLUMES
VOL. II
NEW YORK
DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY
FEINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN
PARE
\i 'i-i- ^
CONTENTS
Vol. II
CHAPTER XIV
Early Life and Influences, 1839 — 1855 . . . 333
CHAPTER XV
Architectural Training — Friends and Opportunities
— Change of Religion — Character and Appear-
ance ......... 347
CHAPTER XVI
Ten Years of Small Ecclesiastical Commissions and
Developing Talent. 1860—1870 .... 365
CHAPTER XVII
Ecclesiastical Architecture (I)— Parish Churches . 395
CHAPTER XVIII
Ecclesiastical Architecture (II) .... 441
CHAPTER XIX
Domestic Architecture (I) . . . . . . 473
vi CONTENTS
CHAPTER XX
Domestic Architecture (II) ...... 499
PAGE
CHAPTER XXI
Stained Glass ........ 522
CHAPTER XXII
Metalwork ........ 555
CHAPTER XXIII
Furniture and Textiles ...... 572
CHAPTER XXIV
Ecclesiastical Furniture in Marble, Stone and Wood
FROM 1870 — Some Mural Decoration — Monuments
and Memorials ....... 584
CHAPTER XXV
Restoration of Ancient Churches .... 631
CHAPTER XXVI
Middle and Later Life, The Home Circle, Travels,
Public Recognition and Honour, Death . . 653
Index 681
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Vol. II
John Fhancis Bentley, atat 59 . . . . Frontispiece
PLATES
PLiTE FAPIMO PiQH
XLIV. Silhouette Portrait of J. F. Bentley as a Boy . . 884
XLV. John Francis Bentley, about the Age of 23 . . 885
XL VI. S. Francis's Church, Notting Hill: Baptistery (1861)
Altar of S. John ........ 368
XLVII. Two Early Fonts : (A) S. Mary's, ^VINKFIELD, Berks. (B)
S. Mary's, Bridgetown ....... 869
XLVIII. Church of S. Mary the Virgin, Collaton, Devon : Rere-
Dos AND Altar-piece (1865) ...... 390
XLIX. S. Mary's, Cadogan Street : Hanging Rood . . . 896
L. S. Mary's, Cadogan Street : Interior .... 400
LI. Church of Our Lady of the Holy Souls. Kensal : Nave
and Rood Screen ........ 401
LII. Corpus Christi Church, Brixton Hill : Chancel and High
Altar (1886) 414
LIII. Corpus Christi Church, Brixton Hill: East End and
Transept (1886) 415
LIV. Church of the Holy Rood, Watford : Ground Plan (1879) 422
LV. Church of the Holy Rood, Watford : East End and
Presbytery ......... 428
LVI. Church of the Holy Rood, Watford : High Altar and
Reredos ......... 426
LVII. Church of the Holy Rood. Watford : Nave and Chancel,
WITH Rood Loft ........ 427
LVni. Church of the Holy Rood, Watford : Chancel (Painted
Decoration) ; Church of the Holy Rood, Watford :
North Aisle and Holland Chantry Chapel of the
Holy Ghost ......... 430
vii
viii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PLITE PiOISa PiOB
LIX. Church of the Holy Rood, Watford : The Baptistery ;
Detail of Sculpture ....... 481
LX. Church of S. Luke, Chiddingstone Causeway : Eastern
Elevation ......... 488
LXI. Church of S. Luke, Chiddingstone Causeway : Interior . 439
LXIL S. Mary's, Clapham : Lady Chapel and Transept . . 452
LXIIL S. Mary's, Clapham : Shrine of Our Lady of Perpetual
Succour ......... 453
LXIV. S. Mary's, Clapham: Transept 458
LXV. Convent Chapel, Braintree : Chancel .... 459
LXVI. Tudor Cottage, Bainbridge, Yorks : Front Elevation ;
Back Elevation ........ 474
LXVIL Carlton Towers, Yorks : Venetian Drawing-Room , 475
LXVIIL Carlton Towers, Yorks : Hall and Armoury, with
Minstrels' Gallery ....... 486
LXIX. Carlton Towers, Yorks : Heraldic Finials on Newel-
posts of Great Staircase ...... 487
LXX. S. Thomas's Seminary, Hammersmith : Ground Plan of
Main Building and Chapel Wing .... 498
LXXI. Hammersmith Seminary : Entrance Courtyard . . 499
LXXII. Hammersmith Seminary : Quadrangle .... 502
LXXIII. Hammersmith Seminary : North or Garden Front . 508
LXXIV. Hammersmith Seminary : Garden Entrance . . . 506
LXXV. Hammersmith Seminary : Refectory .... 507
LXXVL S. Johns School, Beaumont : Entrance Hall . . 510
LXXVIL S. John's School, Beaumont : Main Entrance and Terrace 511
LXXVHL S. John's School, Beaumont: The Chapel . . .514
LXXIX. S. John's School. Beaumont : Details of Oaken Stalls in
THE Chapel ......... 515
LXXX. S. Mary's Redemptorist Monastery, Clapham: Plan . 518
LXXXL Church of the Holy Rood, Watford : Left Half of Six-
light W'iNDow IN South Transept, illustrating the
Life of S. John the Baptist ..... 520
LXXXn. S. Patrick's Cathedral, Ballarat : West Window . . 550
LXXXIIL Design for Silver Sanctuary -lamp. .... 551
LXXXIV. Tabernacle: Corpus Chulsti Church, Brixton Hill . 556
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ix
PLATB PACINO PA«E
LXXXV. A. Tabernacle in Poltsiied Brass, enriched with Precious
Stones (1889). R. Tabernacle in Copper, Lapis Lazuli,
AND Pearl (1902) 557
LXXXVI. Altar Hails. (A) Church of the Holy Rood, Watford :
Lady Chapel. (B) Church of S. James's, Spanish Place:
Communion Rail ........ 560
LXXXVII. Three Electric-light Pendants in Bronze Gilt (1899) . 561
LXXXVIIL (A) Fender in Polished Brass. (B) Fender in Cast Steel 566
LXXXIX. FiREDOGS : Carlton Towers, Yorkshire .... 567
XC. Presentation Casket in Silver-parcel Gilt
XCI. Designs for a Drawing-room Table
XCII. Grand Piano in Ebonized Wood
XCIU. Mirror Frame : Wood, Carved and Gilt .
570
571
578
579
XCIV. S. Mary's, Cadogan Street : Shrine of the Blessed Virgin 604
XCV. Church of the Holy Name, Manchester : Design for
Lady Altar ......... 605
XCVL Font Covers : (A) Christ Church, Streatham Hill (1890).
(B) Church of the Holy Rood, Watford . . . 614
XCVII. Pulpits: (A) S. Mary's, Cholsey (1882). (B) S. Anne's
Cathedral, Leeds ....... 615
XCVIII. Organ Case : (A) All Saints', Hordle, Hants : (B)
Denton Church. ........ 618
XCIX. Design for Grave Cross for Mrs. Peek (1884) . . 619
C. Design for Monument to Cardinal Manning . . . 628
CI. S. Botolph's, Aldgate : Plaster Decoration of the
Ceiling over the Side Galleries ..... 629
CII. S. Botolph's, Aldgate : Chancel Seats and Screens of
Oak 636
Cin. S. Botolph's, Bishopsgate : Design for Carved and
Glazed Screen of Choir and for Choir Seating . . 637
ClV. S. Etheldreda's, Ely Place, Holborn : Screen and Organ
Case at West End ....... 650
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
FIGURES IN THE TEXT
HSi PIGK
33. S. Mary's, Chelsea: Ground Plan (1877) 398
34. Our Lady of the Holy Souls, Kensal New Town : Longi-
tudinal Section (1881) 403
35. Our Lady of the Holy Souls, Kensal New Town : Ground Plan 403
36. Corpus Christi Church, Brixton : Ground Plan . . . 408
37. Corpus Christi Church, Brixton : Transverse Section . . 409
38. Church of the Holy Rood, Watford : (1) Side Elevation, Market
Street. (2) End Elevation of Chancel, etc., and House . . 420
39. Church of the Holy Rood. Watford : Longitudinal and Trans-
verse Sections .......... 421
40. S. Luke's Church, Chiddingstone Causeway : Ground Plan, etc. 436
41. S. Luke's Church, Chiddingstone Causeway: Elevations and
Sections ........... 437
42. Chapel of the Relics, S. Mary of the Angels, Bayswater :
Transverse and Longitudinal Sections ..... 443
43. Paul's House Convent, Taunton: Sanctuary Screen . . . 461
44. Chapel and Convent of the Franciscan Nuns, Braintree, Essex :
Ground Plan (1898) 467
45. Tudor Cottage, Bainbridge, Yorks : Ground and Chamber Plans
(1885) 476
46. Chimney-piece and Fireplace: 70, Eccleston Square . . 491
47. S. John's School, Beaumont : Ground Plan .... 509
48. S. John's School, Beaumont : Perspective View .... 511
49. Redemptorist Monastery, Clapham : Elevations to Street and
Church ........... 516
50. Redemptorist Monastery, Clapham : Elevations and Sections . 517
51. Brass Lectern, exhibited at Great Exhibition of 1862 . . 557
52. S. Mary of the Angels, Bayswater: Lady Chapel Grille (187C) . 559
53. Beaumont College: Communion Rail (1885) .... 562
54. Design for a Combined Cabinet and Desk, in Oak . . 575
WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND
ITS ARCHITECT
CHAPTER XIV
1839—1855
Birth and parentage — Upbringing and education — Early influences — Great Exhibition,
1851 — Burning of St. George's Church, 1853 — Construction of models — Voluntary
assistance in clerk of works' office — Desire to become a painter — Father's disap-
proval and refusal — Clerk of works at Loversall Church — Brief apprenticeship to
engineering — Apprenticeship to building firm — Journey to London — Death of father,
1856 — Transference to architect's office — Bentley never sent to Lille with cathedral
designs.
John Francis ^ Bentley, like his contemporary Ruskin, the son
of a wine-merchant, was born in the then quiet little town of
Doncaster on January 30th, 1839, and was the third surviving son
among the seventeen children of Charles Bentley and Ann, his
wife, daughter of John Bacchus - of the same town. The
family of Bentley appears in the records of the East Riding of
Yorkshire from the first half of the thirteenth century, being a
cadet branch of the Bentleys of Bentley-Haye in Stafford-
shire, whose direct male line ended at the close of the fourteenth
century. The Yorkshire branch especially was noted for the
production of good fighting men and several knights, two of
whom added renown to the family escutcheon in the French
wars of Edward III. The stock whence sprang the subject of
this memoir has been settled in Doncaster for certainly something
1 His baptismal name was John only, the second being assumed when he entered
the Catholic Church.
2 Backhouse or Backus were earlier and alternative spellings.
II — 1 333
334 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
over a hundred years, from days when this then pleasant provincial
town was famed only for the great annual race meeting, long
before the era of disfigurement produced by railway works and
shafts of coal mines, which now encompass it as with " clouds by
day and pillars of fire by night."
Charles Bentley, born in 1805, seems to have been intended
for the law, and spent part of his earliest manhood in the offices
of two local solicitors. The idea of qualifying for this profession
was, however, early abandoned, and, becoming a burgess of his
town, we find him embarked on the more immediately profitable
vocation of a wine-merchant. Whether he inherited the business,
or whether it was founded and built up by his own energy and
enterprise the writer does not know ; but it is certain that,
prospering sufficiently to settle in life while yet very young, he
married Ann Bacchus, a year his senior, some time in 1826.
Their married life was passed in a quaint, ancient house in French-
gate, some three hundred years old, which served the united pur-
poses of dwelling and place of business. Beneath its roof were
born the seventeen children that blessed their union, and in its
now mouldering upper storeys the ten boys and girls (five sons
and five daughters) surviving infancy spent their childhood
and youth.
The records of the future artist's early years are sadly meagre,
and consist mainly of his own children's treasured recollections of
their father's rather rare references to events and surroundings of
his youth. The chief impression thus retained is that the rule of
Charles Bentley's household was strict, and indeed marked by its
severity at a period when the old " Spare the rod " maxim seems
to have embodied almost the whole idea of family discipline
in the class to which he belonged. A riding whip which hung
over the dining-room door in the French-gate house certainly cut
its way deeply into their childhood's reminiscences.
Charles Bentley seems to have been a man of stern and im-
perious temper, quick to anger and little likely to err on the side
of tenderness towards his children. It was left to the mother,
Plate XLIV. — Silhouette Pobtrait of J. F. Bentlby as a Boy.
334]
Pt-ATK XLV. — .John I'llANCIS JiKNTLEY, ABOUT THE ACK OF 2,'{.
(From a 'photof/rai'h.)
[336-
1839—1855 335
gentle, sweet- natured, and lovable, though withal a woman of firm
character and good sense, to shield them from her husband's
tendency towards swift and immoderate punishment of trifling
faults. John was perhaps rather difficult to manage as a boy, and
doubtless the two strong wills were often in battle. Of his mother
John always retained the tenderest memories ; the bond of affection
between them ripened into one of fine sympathy and comprehension,
to be sorely needed later when the boy's will came into serious con-
flict with his father's over the momentous choice of his life-work.
John Bentley's first outstanding recollection in an otherwise
rather dull environment was a visit to the Great Exhibition of
1851, when his father took the elder children to London to see its
wonders. On John, then about twelve years old, the experience
left vivid and ineffaceable impressions, and possibly gave birth
to that ambition which, some four years later, led him again and
finally to London. The silhouette portrait of the boy here re-
produced is quite probably a souvenir brought back from the
Exhibition : this mode of portraiture was still very fashionable,
though soon to be replaced in popular favour by the daguerreo-
type (Plate XLIV).
The circumstance which was to shape his future with more
definite fingers occurred about eighteen months later. The
townspeople of Doncaster were justly proud of their parish church
of St. George, renowned among ecclesiologists on account of the
dignity and magnificence of its central tower, a Perpendicular
structure whose grand size and fair and light proportions bestowed
a quite cathedral-like effect upon the church. John Bentley, then
just fourteen years old, was ardently attached to the church, and
in his precocity of rapidly developing powers of thought and
observation seems to have known it really intimately in the minutest
details of plan, elevation, and sculptured masonry. The tragedy
of the night of February 27th, 1853, signified, therefore, a very real
and personal loss to this boy, thus early dowered with aesthetic
sense and power of vision, with whom it is no exaggeration to say
every stone of the fabric held its place in memory and imagination.
336 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
The church had been closed as usual after the Sunday evening
service on February 27th ; two men going early to work on the
following morning, just after 1 a.m., observed a deep glow
through the easternmost windows of the north aisle. They im-
mediately gave the alarm to the authorities ; hurriedly the fire
engine was brought out and into action, only to prove its utter use-
lessness to the silent, horrified crowd of townspeople which had
rapidly and mysteriously been drawn together. The engine,
had it been powerful enough to reach the now raging furnace of
flame, was insufficiently provided with hose, and moreover fire
plugs were few and the water supply lamentably defective. Great
pieces of burning timber were shot upon the roofs of neighbouring
houses, and the inhabitants, roused from their beds, were urged
to take refuge in places of greater safety.
The Bentleys' house in French-gate — to any one standing in the
narrow alley which separates it on the right from the adjoining
house— appears to nestle under the shadow of the church tower.
From this alley John saw the hissing, crackling flames shoot sky-
wards, as he was hurried from his bed wrapped in blankets and
shawls, his boyish soul stirred with the excitement of a fire, until
realization of what the fire was consuming overlaid the excitement
with sorrow and regret. The fire acting powerfully on the mag-
nesian limestone, in an incredibly short space the whole church
was, in the words of an eye-witness, " burning with the steady
lurid glow of a mighty furnace " — and about two o'clock in the
morning the roof of the nave fell in with an awful crash. The
people watched the work of destruction with a sense of para-
lysed hopelessness in the unequal fight. By 3.30 all that was
consumable was destroyed and lying in heaps of smouldering
ashes. Happily the town was saved from destruction by the light
wind that was blowing, veering from north-west to west.
Though the calamity was a terrific one, the good people of
Doncaster did not allow it to overwhelm them, and the
ruins were hardly cold before they decided to rebuild the church
without delay. To the scheme, taken up heartily in various
1839—1855 337
parts of the country, £30,000 was subscribed in a very short time
and later another £15,000 was obtained without difficulty to meet
the cost of the new building. The ladies of Doncaster, in their
anxiety to contribute to the building fund, combined to organize
a great bazaar, in which all, great and small alike, could take part.
John Bentley, suffering acutely from the loss of his beloved
church, had at once begun to construct a memorial of it. He
made a beautiful little cardboard model of the entire building,
chiefly from memory — complete in every detail, even to the
simulation of painted glass in the windows. By his father's wish
the model was exhibited at the bazaar, and sold for five guineas
to a Mr. Morris, of Doncaster. The work of this boy of fourteen
attracted so much admiration that it was illuminated interiorly
with candles, the better to display the details, and thus unfor-
tunately met the same fate as its original.
Charles Bentley, proud of the notice given to his young son's
achievement, insisted that he should at once make a duplicate
model ; and with characteristic rigour kept him at work till it
was finished, lest any detail should escape his memory. The
little chvirch at length completed, the modeller was sought to
receive the congratulations of his family — but sought in vain
till a servant came upon him hidden in the hay in an outhouse
in the deep sleep of utter exhaustion. This second model was
much coveted by the purchaser of the first, who made several
attempts to buy it, but it has never left the possession of the
architect's family.
Long before this time John Bentley had been accustomed to
free entry into the carvers' and joiners' workshops in the town.
His enthusiasm for their work beoming rapidly keener than his
interest in school routine, the hours spent in the mason's yard and
at the joiner's bench were soon the happiest in his life — for the
men took pleasure and pride in initiating the intelligent boy into
the mysteries of their crafts. He was handicapped by an im-
pediment in his speech (which was practically overcome when he
grew up), though it must have put him at some disadvantage as
338 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
a schoolboy. He attended a private school in Doncaster from
1852, but previously, and again later, received extra tuition at
home.
To an unusual extent he absorbed knowledge most readily
through the senses of sight and touch ; and the knowledge of
practical matters gained through the handling of tools and
materials meant much more to him in those days than mere book
learning, although he was exceedingly fond of miscellaneous read-
ing when still quite a child, and laboriously saved pocket-money
to buy coveted books. This love of books in the possessive sense,
too, was lifelong, and the habit of voracious reading cultivated
in early manliood soon made good the deficiencies of literary
equipment due to somewhat brief and limited educational oppor-
tunities.
Probably, with his temperament and its early swift development
along technical lines, the lack of a public school education was all
to the good ; and what, to modern ideas, seems to have been a
rather uninspiring and narrow and joyless environment also played
its part in driving him outside the home circle to find a practical
outlet for creative instincts.
Thus, when Sir George Gilbert Scott, the architect chosen to
rebuild St, George's, had completed his designs for a fine Decorated
church, cruciform in plan, with clerestoried nave, aisles, transepts
with a central tower and a chancel with chapels, and had appointed
George Stephen Cleverley, a local mason, to be clerk of the works
— what more natural than that John Bentley should haunt the
scene of rebuilding ? His talent with the pencil was rapidly
developing, and this, together with a very fair measure of prac-
tical knowledge picked up in the workshops, as we have shown,
made his assistance decidedly useful in Cleverley's office. The
boy was ever ready to help his old acquaintance in difficulties :
now he would explain the architect's working drawings ; at another
time would set out full-size details, and make templets for the
masons. He was even trusted to measure up the foundations for
the great central tower.
1839—1855 339
The concrete foundations were begun in October 1853, and the
foundation stone laid on February 28th following, the first anni-
versary of the fire, so that John must have been a great deal on
the site in the early months of that year. His father, realising the
futility of keeping him longer at school, allowed him to leave
about this time, before he had completed his sixteenth year.
The problem of a choice of career now pressed for solution.
From quite early childhood John Bentley had longed to become
a painter ; he was wont in later life to tell in humorous fashion
of the many weeks' saving that had gone to buy a certain much-
desired box of colours, and how when achievement had rewarded the
long self-denial of other delights, the first artistic effort (and bitter
discouragement) was an attempted portrait of one of his sisters —
selected for and duly appreciative of the high honour ! Experience
in craftsmanship, gained as we have related, had in no way abated
his longing to study art ; but the parental views proved a very
serious obstacle. Charles Bentley, whose business instincts utterly
distrusted art as a means of livelihood, was little likely to favour
John's aspirations, or even to understand how any child of his
could long for the career of a painter : a life, in his real belief,
little better than that of vagabondage.
The family appears to have produced no earlier example of
artistic talent — indeed, the writer cannot furnish any instance of
heredity to account for John Bentley's genius. Certainly his
father had some skill in drawing, indulged in purely amateur
fashion ; it is likewise true that he showed taste and discrimin-
ation a good deal in advance of his period and set, in an exceptional
appreciation of old English furniture, at a time when it was
being generally consigned to the lumber-room and the wood-stack.
His passion for collecting Yorkshire oak of Elizabethan and Stuart
age, especially chairs, became widely known, and from miles
around pieces were brought to his door and rarely refused. His
collection at length became so large that it overflowed the limits
of the house, and eventually filled a barn. At his death the
collection was practically all sold and dispersed.
340 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
But though drawing as a hobby was permissible, as a profes-
sion it was to be regarded from a very different standpoint, and
he remained perfectly obdurate to John's entreaties to be allowed
to study that on which his heart was really set. It had been,
doubtless, a relief to much anxiety when the boy began to show so
great an interest in building and its attendant crafts, and the dis-
appointment of finding that the old desire was only temporarily
dormant must have been severe. Still, as the set square and
the measuring tape appeared to satisfy his son's activity for
the time, and being loath to allow him to remain idle until
an opening presented itself, it was arranged that he should
supervise voluntarily, as a sort of under clerk of the works,
certain repairs being done to Loversall Church by the architect
George Gordon Place, of Newark and Nottingham, towards the
end of 1854.
Loversall parish is about three miles from Doncaster ; its
church, a small ancient structure, with a south aisle and a large
chapel on the south side of the chancel, was built by the Wyrral
family in the time of Henry VIII. The youthful clerk of the
works, faithfully at his post to take the workmen's time at six
o'clock every morning in the bitter winter cold, gave to the
operations all his natural thoroughness and energy. It is told
that on one occasion, irritated by the slowness and incompetence
of the carver employed, he took the tools from his hands, and
himself executed some of the carving in the church. This im-
patience and intolerance of poor and insincere craftsmanship was
ever a marked feature of his architectural practice, joined to the
no less remarkable capacity for setting right and improving and
even creating enthusiasm in an indifferent worker.
The brief breathing space at Loversall ended, the battle of his
career was again to be fought. Charles Bentley's opposition to his
son's dream of fame was in no wise diminished ; he was, if possible,
even more set in opposition and enforced his objections by quoting
the wretched, uncertain existence of a certain down-at-heel
artist of their acquaintance. William, the eldest son, twelve
1839—1855 341
years older than John, had been extremely successful as a railway
engineer in the great developments of steam transit ^ ; it was
doubtless due to his example, and possibly to his advice, that
John was sent early in 1855 to the engineering works of Messrs.
Sharpe, Stewart & Co., at Manchester, where for a very brief
space he donned the moleskins.
Referring in later life to this episode, for it was hardly more,
though doubtless of value in the scheme of his technical equipment,
Bentley used to recall how the distinction between gentlemen
pupils and other workers was marked only by the patent leather
shoes worn by the former ! Why he spent so short a time in Man-
chester we do not know ; probably he showed so great a distaste
for the work that his employers saw his unsuitability and
arranged that he should not continue.
But this, of course, is little more than conjecture. The fact
remains that Charles Bentley, still bent on a safe commercial start
and with the honest desire to do the best possible for his son,
decided to turn to account experience already acquired by put-
ting him into the building trade. A mutual friend undertook to
use his influence with Mr. Richard Holland, of the London firm of
Winslow & Holland. Calling on him to suggest the boy's admis-
sion to their offices, and mentioning his remarkable gift with the
pencil, Mr. Holland spoke plainly of the mistake of putting a boy
of such promise into a builder's office, and pointed out that an
architect's was clearly his proper place. At the same time he
agreed to take the boy as an apprentice should the father refuse
the alternative suggestion.
Charles Bentley's intention was not to be shaken, however, and
indentures for five years, dated June 26th, 1855, were drawn up
and signed, and in August he escorted John to town to see him
safely started in his new work and lodged with a clergyman's family
' William Bentley, dissatisfied with prospects in England when railway construction
slackened, emigrated to the United States before 1856, whence he continued to
correspond from time to time with his family until the American Civil War of 1861,
when his letters ceased, and no tidings have been received since. It is presumed that
joining one side or the other, he was killed during the war.
342 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
at Camberwell Green. The Green was green in those days, and Cam-
berwell a countrified suburb, whence each morning John Bentley
used to walk to the office in Duke Street (now Hyde Street), Blooms-
bury. These long daily tramps were taken to save the cost of
travelling, a serious consideration in 1855 to a boy whose allow-
ance, at any rate during the first years of his pupilage, never
exceeded £60 a year. This modest sum to cover all living expenses
necessitated the most rigid economy ; indeed every book bought
to satisfy the leaping ambition for knowledge represented so many
foregone midday meals.
Mr. Holland gave young Bentley a seat in the drawing office,
where his marvellously rapid progress and keen interest in work
confirmed his previous judgment and soon attracted the notice
of the other partners, who all became impressed by a talent
that obviously destined their new apprentice for more brilliant
opportunities than the routine of a builder's office could offer.
He seems to have strayed occasionally into other depart-
ments ; for example, several pieces of modelling from those busy
fingers were preserved in the plasterer's shop for several years
after he had left the Duke Street business. Very soon the
confidence and approval of his chiefs encouraged the boy to
consult them about his disappointed aspirations, and Richard
Holland's inquiry as to whether in the office of an ecclesiastical
architect he would find work more to his mind, brought a joyful
affirmative.
The partners, convinced of his genius and generously un-
willing to hinder its development, agreed to release the young man
from his indentures, should any architect be willing to take him.
They actually had in mind Mr. Hem-y Glutton, in his time a
well-known ecclesiastical architect, who had employed Winslow
& Holland to carry out several contracts. Struck on several
occasions by the unusual quality of certain drawings produced in
their office, Mr. Glutton, inquiring as to their authorship, had
learned that they were the work of a young apprentice aged
seventeen, named Bentley. He had several important commissions
1839—1855 343
in hand just at this time, so that when Winslow & Holland
suggested that the apprentice, whom they described as a genius,
might be useful in his office. Glutton professed himself very willing
to receive him.
By the terms of his contract the youth was bound to the
building firm for five years, his father agreeing to provide board
and lodging, and giving a promissory note to pay £100 at the end
of three years to "Wijislow & Holland, they to repay this sum
to the apprentice at the rate of £50 per annum during the last two
years of his term.
Some months before this suggested change of employment,
Bentley had had the misfortune to lose his father rather suddenly
on November 28th, 1856, and the firm had allowed him to return
home and " spend what time he thought fit " there to console the
widowed mother. Mr. Richard Holland's letter according the
permission shows in what good esteem father and son were held :
" DuKB Street, Bloomsbuby,
"December 8th, 1856.
" Dear John,
" I had intended writing you to-day for the double purpose
of telling you to spend what time you thought fit at home, and to
ask you to convey to your mother my sympathy with her grief.
I trust that time will soften the affliction which so sad a loss must
have brought upon her, the extent of which I am but too well
acquainted with from our own family bereavement. The little
I saw of your father led me to believe him a strong and healthy
man, and one whose life it might be expected would be spared to
see his family grown up. The want of his counsel and advice
will no doubt be a heavy loss to you, but the good and upright
character he gained will, I trust, be your own guide through life,
and that your efforts will be to so keep your eyes upon his precepts
as you grow up that your father's friends may see the reflection
of the father's character in the son.
" There will be little if anything to require you here before
344 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
Xmas, but I shoiild like you to be here then. You can therefore
exercise your own discretion whether you make your return to
Duke Street at or before that time.
" Yours very sincerely,
" Richard Holland."
It was the mother therefore who had to be consulted by his
employers when they wished to improve John's prospects. He
had entered Clutton's office some time in March 1857, on
trial, his place at Holland's being kept open in case he should
wish to return. Mr. Holland accordingly wrote to Ann Bentley
in September for her approval and consent :
"Duke Street, BLOOMSBtrBY,
"September 2nd, 1857.
" Dear Madam,
" I learnt from your son John some time back that you
would like the £100 note of hand which I received from Mr. Bentley
returned to you with the understanding that the last two years
of John's service would be without salary. I therefore return the
note, and shall feel obliged by an acknowledgment.
" A few months back Mr. Henry Clutton, an architect of great
repute, mentioned to me that he wanted assistance in his office,
and feeling the great advantage it would be to John I asked Mr.
Clutton to let him have a seat for six months in the office. That
time is now approaching completion, and before speaking to Mr.
Clutton I should wish you to ask yotir son which he considers
himself most fitted to follow, namely the profession of an architect
or the business of a builder. My own judgment of your son's
capabilities leads me to suspect that he prefers and is better
adapted for the former.
" I believe it would be in my power at the present time to get
him a permanent seat for the remainder of the apprenticeship
term in Mr. Clutton's office, and feeling as I do that John's liking
leads him to architecture, I will not stand in his way if he prefers
to continue with Mr. Clutton.
1839—1855 345
" His place here has been unfilled during his absence from
Duke Street, and I am therefore very ready to see him back again,
and, as the latter years of service are always more profitable to
the master than the first, you will I am sure give me credit that in
putting this proposition before you I am seeking John's future
welfare alone.
" With kind regards, I remain,
" Dear madam,
" Yours sincerely,
" Richard D. Holland.
" Mbs. Bentley.
"P.S. — Since writing this I have seen your son, and hearing
that he takes his holiday next Saturday week, you will of course
delay your answer until he reaches home, except for the purpose
of acknowledging the promissory note."
Evidently mother and son preferred to leave the decision in
Mr. Holland's wise hands, for he wrote to her again some weeks
later :
" DtTKE Street, Bloomsbtjry,
"October Sth, 1857.
" Dear Madam,
" I am so fully convinced that it is to the interest of your
son John to retain the seat he has in Mr, Glutton's office, that I
should do an injustice to him, left as it is for me to decide upon,
did I not advise his continuing as he now is.
" John's talent will be developed much more in an architect's
office than a builder's ; he has great ability as a draftsman, and
the pencil comes more kindly to his feeling than the drudgery in
figures of a builder's office.
" Having no hesitation in declaring such to be my opinion, with
John's consent I spoke to Mr. Glutton, and the arrangement is
that your son will sit there diu-ing good behaviour. I asked that
he might be allowed to watch some work during its progress as a
346 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
clerk of the works, but Mr. Clutton would make no further promise
than as above. I am sure, however, that he will look upon John
as a pupil and do justice to him if your son chooses to trouble
himself to please him.
" Having acted for the best, I trust it prove so in the end for
John's sake,
" With kind regards,
" I remain, dear madam,
" Yours sincerely,
" Richard D. Holland.
" Mrs. Bentlet."
These letters definitely fix the date of Bentley's transfer to the
architect's office, and dispose once for all of the oft-repeated story
— a kind of family tradition whose source it is impossible to trace
— that he was entrusted with the mission of carrying to France
the competition designs for Lille Cathedral, produced in collabora-
tion by Henry Clutton and William Burges, A.R.A., who were for
a short time in partnership. The judges of the designs submitted
for this much-advertised project held a solemn concur sus at Lille
in March 1856 ; it has always seemed to the writer incredible that
an untravelled boy of seventeen, however trustworthy and steady,
could have been sent to France on an errand so important and
responsible. The recent discovery of the correspondence of 1857
printed above has justified her doubt of the romantic story, which
must therefore be regretfully consigned to the limbo of myths.
CHAPTER XV
ARCHITECTURAL TRAINING — FRIENDS AND OPPORTUNITIES — CHANGE
OF RELIGION — CHARACTER AND APPEARANCE
Education in Glutton's oflSce — French influence — Leaning to Lombardesque style —
Early exhibitions — Dislike of architectural competitions- — Still longing for a painter's
life — Influence of Burges — Domestic architecture under Glutton — Ecclesiastical
architecture and influences arising therefrom — Offer of partnership declined — Resid-
ence with E. L. Blackburne — First chambers rented— Course of study continued —
Architectural Museimi — Circle of friends— T. J. Willson, S. J. Nicholl, Thos. Wille-
ment, Theodore Phyffers, N. H. J. Westlake, Philip and Fred Westlake, W. A.
Purdue, H. W. Brewer, C. N. Hemy, Matthew Ellison Hadfield and Charles Hadfield
— Dinners and discussions — Recreations — Other friends and cUents — T. C. Lewis
John Montefiore, W. Butterfield, F. S. Barff and Rev. Albert Barff, Dr. Rawes,
Cardinal Wiseman — Entry into the Catholic Church — Religious fervour — I 'en portrait
of John F. Bentley in 1863 — Personal appearance and dress— Habits of life and
character.
Bentley was never articled to Glutton, but entered his oflfice,
as we have seen, when released from the builder's indentures, as a
sort of " improver," to continue his architectural training for
something under three years in the school of pronounced French
Gothicism favoured by his master. This French influence had
then succeeded, for a space, with others of Continental Gothic
origin, those native English styles which after a rapid and brilliant
revival had in a measure passed out of fashion. He was for a
time captured by Clutton's passion for early French work, and
in this resembled his esteemed contemporary, the late G. F.
Bodley, R.A. ; though quite at first he seems to have preserved a
certain independence in the desire to experiment in other styles,
especially that of northern Italy.
The competitive designs for a proposed church at Heigham
347
348 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
made in 1858 are an example of such an essay ; the coloured
perspective of the south-west view shows a building of Lombard-
esque type, in red brick with stone banding, with an imposing
campanile-like tower. The estimated cost was £7,000. The draw-
ing referred to was shown in the Exhibition of March 1860 at
9, Conduit Street, where the Royal Institute of British Architects
had just moved into more spacious quarters. It received some
notice and with another design attracted the following remarks
from a critic in the Builder :
" There is a clever drawing ' Of a church designed in 1858 for
competition ' by Mr. John Bentley, also the producer of a drawing
equally clever, ' Design for a proposed clock-tower or drinking
fountain.' These productions have originality and indeed pro-
fusion of noteworthy features ; but they are of the class which
aims at more than is built with ordinary funds or more structurally
than sometimes is practicable. The (second) design is for a
diminishing square tower, ornamented at the top with facets,
gablets, and pinnacles, surmounted by a belfry stage, with a tiled
or lead-covered capping. Lamps project from the base and a
fountain appears on one of the sides, but these features have little
association with the tower, except the accidental connection."
A twofold interest attaches to these designs; firstly they are
the earliest independent works of John Bentley, and as such
illustrative of the exuberant originality and love of detail of this
young man of nineteen, as yet uncontrolled by training and ex-
perience ; secondly, the church designs represent the only competition
he ever took part in. Indeed, the perspective drawing which used
to hang framed in his office served to point the moral when from
time to time he denounced architectural competitions, in his out-
spoken and vigorous fashion, as essentially inimical to the produc-
tion of good work. In common with some intimate friends, he never
deviated from this principle, and although frequently solicited,
invariably refused to submit a design in competition. They
" regarded the system as unreasonable theoretically, while in
effect misleading as to the discovery of true merit or inventive
ARCHITECTURAL TRAINING 349
power, and positively hurtful when estimated cost and actual
expenditure come to be taken into account." ^
In 1861 he exhibited at the Royal Academy (the first and
only time, we believe) a coloured " Study for a Chancel," glowing
with colour in marblework and painted decoration.
Bentley worked with enthusiasm and far greater contentment
now that the first of the arts had become his mistress. The
hankering after palette and brushes since his father's death had
by now been relegated to the limbo of unfulfilled though never
forgotten desires. To Richard Holland, on an occasion when he
had dropped into the Duke Street offices to chat, as was his
wont, he confided that he had been for some time in doubt
whether to continue architecture or to go to Italy to take up the
study of painting. The pinch for means during the years of
financially unproductive study was what actually removed the
idea beyond the bounds of possibility. Born draughtsman and
wonderful colourist that he was, one is sometimes drawn to specu-
late vainly whether what the world lost in the painter was gained
in any equal degree in the architect.
The influence of William Burges, who, as already remarked,
was in Clutton's office for a time after Bentley entered it, seems
to have counted for a gooa deal in the young man's aesthetic
development ; indeed there is no doubt that he encouraged the
love of rich and glowing colour so strongly emphasized in
Bentley's earliest designs and probably impressed him with the
attention he bestowed on figure drawing in decorative sculpture.
In later life his taste inclined to less warmth of hue ; indeed he
used to say that he always saw things rather " colder " than they
generally appeared to others.
Glutton in conjunction with Burges was restoring and decorat-
ing the Chapter House at Salisbury about this time, so that
their young assistant probably had some share in the drawings.
Experience in domestic architecture was gained from Quantock,
' Memoirs of J. F. Bentley by the late T. J. Willson in the Journal of the E.I.B.A.,
July 1902.
n— 2
350 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
an important Tudor mansion built near Bridgewater for Lord
Taunton in 1857 at a cost of £40,000 ; and, later, from Minley
Manor House, near Farnborough, a large house built of brick
with stone dressings, after the style of the French chateaux of
the time of Louis XL, for Mr. Raikes Currie between 1858 and
1862. It is said that Bentley made many, if not all, of the
drawings for this house.
But quite the most important of the buildings he was sent to
supervise — important, that is to say, not from the architectural
point of view, but from that of the fateful influence they were
to exert on his future — were the sedilia and chapel of the Sacred
Heart at Farm Street, and the small plain church of St. Francis
of Assisi at Notting Hill. The Jesuits' church of the Immaculate
Conception at Farm Street, built in late Decorated style by J. J.
Scoles between 1844 and 1849, was enlarged in 1858-9 by Henry
Clutton by the addition of the chapel just mentioned in thirteenth-
century style, " rich in marble and mosaics, a refined and sumptu-
ous work," notes C. L. Eastlake in his History of the Gothic Revival.
Bentley' s connection with the little church of St. Francis was so
long and important that it must be referred to in a later chapter
in greater detail.
By August 1860, when the covenanted term of his pupilage
expired, Bentley's active share in the designing of churches,
mansions, and the various works forming part of an extensive and
highly connected practice rendered his services so valuable that
Mr. Clutton was anxious to retain them and offered him a partner-
ship, though he was then only just twenty-one years old. The
assured position and income were powerful inducements to one
who had struggled along on such slender means, but stronger still
was the ambition for independence which eventually conquered.
Some good friends and potential clients had been acquired during
the five years of study, and it was with high hopes, though really
somewhat moderate prospects, that he refused Mr, Clutton's offer
and began to practise on his own account.
He continued for a time his residence, begun two or three years
ARCHITECTURAL TRAINING 351
previously, with E. L. Blackburne, F.S.A., an architect and anti-
quarian of some repute, who in 1847 had pubhshed a History of
Decorative Painting in the Middle Ages. Bentley felt a sincere
attachment to this friend and his wife, who treated him as a son,
and the many kindnesses lavished on him during the years he
resided with them at 13, Grenvillc Street, Bloomsbury, were
never forgotten. Bentley used frequently to help him with his
commissions in a friendly way by making detail drawings and so
forth. When in later years poor Blackburne fell upon days of sick-
ness and into financial straits, being forced in 1884 to part with
his very good collection of antique furniture, cabinets, china, etc.,
and being then totally incapable of carrying on his profession,
Bentley, happy to serve his good old friends, took their case in
hand. William Butterfield, whom he knew, was architect to
W'inchester Cathedral, and through his influence and assistance he
had the satisfaction of seeing the old man happily sheltered in a
Haven of Rest, the Almshouses of Noble Poverty at the Hospital
of St. Cross, where a few years later he died.
Some time in 1862, as soon as the development of his practice
seemed to warrant the expense, Bentley took chambers at 14,
Southampton Street, Strand, a couple of rooms overlooking
Maiden Lane, then a quaint narrow bye-street redolent of
memories of Turner. They were not particularly satisfactory
quarters, and his friends the Wettens, who had a house near
Poets' Corner, Westminster, suggested in the next year that he
should take the office in their garden. He was much attached
to this family, within which he found his first and quickly
withered romance. Till long years after he seems to have had
no thought of marriage; and of course the "office in the garden"
became out of the question. Still the rooms in Southampton
Street, wretched and inconvenient though they were, as
Bentley stigmatized them some years later, were significant of
much to him in 1862. Symbolip of the beginning of an indepen-
dent career, the sight of his name painted on the door must have
brought the glow of honest pride experienced by any man who
352 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
has qualified for his profession by long years of patient work and
self-denial.
With redoubled application and zeal, and alas, with more
time to command now that he was his own master, Bentley
pursued his long-practised system of study. He was wont to
spend many hours at the old Architectural Museum in Cannon
Row, founded by Ruskin, Scott, Biirges and other medisevalists
about 1852, and was never tired of advising other students to
do likewise. Every cast of importance was familiar to him, and
his work was in no small degree influenced by this valuable first-
hand knowledge of English and foreign Gothic detail of the
middle ages.
These architectural treasures were housed, prior to 1857, in a
primitive, picturesque and many-gabled building of wood, of the
type which formed a great part of old London before the fire of
1666. Cannon Row was hard by the Thames at Westminster and
the Museum stood cheek by jowl with wharves and warehouses.
The authorities, sensible that the risk from fire was enormous,
in 1857 decided to remove the casts and specimens to safer
quarters, the Government buildings in Brompton, now part of
the South Kensington Museum. Bentley, wonderfully enthusi-
astic for the educational value of the exhibits, followed them to
their new lodgment, and would frequently keep tryst to work there
with one or other of his friends. Equally keen was his interest in
the royal tombs and the early mosaics in Westminster Abbey,
upon which he forced certain of these friends, to whom he was
both guide and inspiration, to work with as much concentration
as he did himself.
All through life Bentley inclined to choose his friends among
men older than himself; "they keep me in order," he used to
explain, " and prevent me from getting conceited." In his early
diaries (he seems to have begun the practice of keeping one in
1863) we often find recorded his friends' approval or the reverse
of any work submitted to them for criticism. A little crowd of
intimates soon foregathered almost daily at the " trysting place"
FRIENDS AND OPPORTUNITIES 353
at 14, Southampton Street (as one of them named it). lie was
dowered with a rare gift of friendship, and even at that im-
mature age was a dehghtful companion and talker, and easily
became the life and centre of his set. " At home talking in the
evening" is an oft-repeated entry in these diaries.
Thither came Thomas John Willson, son of Edward James Willson,
the Catholic architect and antiquarian of Lincoln, a brilliant
critic and learned architect, who was for nine or ten years in the
'sixties in partnership with the late S. J. NichoU (a pupil of J. J.
Scoles), who was also of the company. Then there was Thomas
Willement, F.S.A., born in 1786, heraldic authority and stained
glass designer, noted in his day and generation, the early period
of the Gothic revival. He designed and executed among other
important works the stained glass in the Temple Church (that in
the east window of the tower was presented by him) at its restora-
tion by St. Aubyn in 1840. From him Bentley derived a love for
heraldic lore, and doubtless his first knowledge of the processes
of glass painting, though Willement did not as a designer greatly
influence him.
Theodore Phyffers, too, was of the circle ; a clever Belgian
sculptor, of Louvain, brought over by A. Welby Pugin to supervise
the wood carving in Barry's Houses of Parliament. Pugin had
been struck by the carving of the choir stalls in Antwerp Cathedral,
and learning that they were Phyffers' work, hastened to secure one
good craftsman for England, where the art of wood carving had
sunk to a frightfully low ebb. Bentley met him first while
with Clutton, for whom Phyffers carved the alabaster angels and
other work in the Saered Heart Chapel at the Jesuits' church in
Farm Street ; later he sculptured for Bentley too.
At his studio in Pimlico, where students of good craftsmanship
were wont to meet, Bentley first made the acquaintance of N. H. J.
Westlake, F.S.A., in the spring of 1859. Then began a connection
and a friendship enduring for nearly a quarter of a century between
the architect and the afterwards well-known stained glass designer
and writer on ecclesiastical decoration, etc. Westlake had a
354 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
share in one of his first commissions, the altar of St. John
at St. Francis' Church, Netting Hill, for which he painted the
panels ; and so the connection continued for many years. West-
lake did the painting for all his altars ; while Bentley made the
designs for stained glass which Westlake cartooned and executed.
It was through Bentley too that Nat Westlake met Lavers, the
glass painter, and went to work for his firm (then Lavers &
Barraud) in Endell Street ; in which later he became a partner
and finally the sole proprietor.
Westlake's brothers, Philip the painter and Fred the composer
and examiner at the Royal Academy of Music, also were of the
coterie (though perhaps less intimate), to which doubtless they intro-
duced William Alphonsus Purdue, who, like the Westlakes, was
a Hampshire man, from the New Forest. Purdue as a young
man spent many months on the Continent, living a student's life
and travelling in the leisurely fashion of the days of the diligence
from town to town. These golden opportunities were used to the
full by the brilliant draughtsman whose sketch-books, filled with
exquisite drawings, as delicate as Ruskin's, of the architecture of
France and Italy, were the delight of his fellow architects here.
John Bentley had for " Dianthus," as he playfully nicknamed him,
a very warm affection, and his swift and ready pencil was always
at Purdue's service to supply the imagination and power of design
unfortunately lacking in his friend's mental equipment.
Then there was H. W. Brewer, who became a well-known
architectural draughtsman and black and white artist ; he it was
who made the interior perspective drawing published for the
laying of the foundation stone in Jvine 1894 of Westminster
Cathedral as it would appear when clothed in all its glory of
mosaic and marble ; while a later recruit to the band was Charles
Napier Hemy, R.A., the marine painter and brother-in-law of
N. H. J. Westlake, at whose house Bentley met him when he
(Hemy) was about twenty-four years old. Eldest son of the
musician, Henri F. Hemy, of Newcastle, he decided, after his
school course at Ushaw, to become a monk, but did not get
FRIENDS AND OPPORTUNITIES 355
beyond the novitiate, and when he came to London at this time
had just let his hair grow again (a most artistic crop according
to a contemporary photograph !). He and Bentley became very
friendly ; then — some years later — Mr. Ilemy went abroad to
study painting at Antwerp under Baron Leys, and although
the friends corresponded two or three times a year, they did not
meet again till 1880.
Another Ushaw man, Charles Hadfield, of Sheffield, joined the
circle in 1863. He first met Bentley at St. Cuthbert's College in
July 1862, where both had been invited for the annual " great "
week, the latter being at the time engaged on some work for
St. Mary's Church at Crook, a short distance from Ushaw.
Bentley accepted an invitation to stay with the Hadfields in
Sheffield during Christmas week that year ; and in time came to
regard Matthew Ellison Hadfield and his wife much in the light
of his own parents. The former knew Doncaster well, having
lived there for some years when serving his articles with the
architects, Woodhead & Hirst ; his familiarity with the scenes
and friends of John Bentley's youth served as a foundation for
their affection. It was on the younger man's advice that Charles
Hadfield came to London to study architecture in 1863 ; Bentley
found him suitable lodgings, and, becoming mentor and guide
to his youth and inexperience, closely directed his studies and
helped him on with advice and encouragement.
As one of the few survivors of that enthusiastic band, Charles
Hadfield's reminiscences possess a special interest ; he writes : " The
times were full of stimulus for earnest students of mediaeval design.
. . . Publications like Viollet-le-Duc's Dictionnaire, Nesfield's
French and Italian Sketches, and Johnson's Churches of Normandy
aroused general enthusiasm, and, needless to say, these things
were topics of frequent discussion at 14, Southampton Street,
where Bentley's comments and strong artistic views on all that
was passing were an infinite delight to the little coterie of friends
whose debates were often prolonged into the early morning hours."
But there was a lighter side to this happy intercourse. Three
356 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
or four of the set would meet and dine inexpensively together night
after night at Bibra's, in Charing Cross Road, a great place for
good macaroni and other Italian dishes at a period when such were
rarely to be had in London ; the fun and high spirits of youth
often made these meals rather noisy, as one at least of the com-
pany remembers. Afterwards an adjournment would be made to
Bentley's chambers close by, which became indeed their Parlia-
ment of high ideals and aspirations. From the architect's diaries,
kept with more diligence at this early period than in later years
— for in common with many diarists he had the habit of beginning
each January with strenuous intention, and gradually relapsing
to blank pages as the year grew older — it seems that amusements,
other than those derived from his work (which was ever a labour
of love), were conspicuous by their rarity. Very seldom is a
visit to the theatre recorded ; while sports and games claimed no
part of his time.
It seems a rather curious thing that a Yorkshireman, one, too,
reared in the home of the St. Leger, should object as violently as
he did to horse -racing ; indeed at one time the subject could not
be mentioned without an explosion of wrathful denunciation.
Doubtless he saw a good deal of the seamier side of the
sport in his youth. Fishing was the only sport he ever really
cared for — opportunities for indulging it in holidays, though few,
were always eagerly seized when they came his way. In the
ordinary way he never so much as dreamed of taking Saturday
" off " for exercise or amusement.
The main recreation in London seems to have been found in
long walks, usually at night ; his protracted hours of work and
reading were otherwise interrupted only by the visits of friends.
There were others at this period who, important though their
influence on Bentley's life may have been, yet stand apart for one
reason or another from the intimate brotherhood whose names
we have recorded. Two dated their acquaintance from the
Exhibition of 1862, when their attention was attracted by the
genius and originality of several works executed from Bentley's
FRIENDS AND OPPORTUNITIES 357
designs. Thomas Christopher Lewis, architect, bell-founder, in-
ventor, and organ-builder, and one of the finest judges of musical
tone of his time, was drawn to him by an identity of taste and
a similar love of fine detail and craftsmanship. This ripened
in time to a very deep friendship : much was done in common
in acquiring old furniture, pictures, and china, and Bentley came
to owe a great deal to Lewis's kindly anxiety to put commissions
in his way. Through the latter's introductions a considerable
amount of work, especially that of a domestic nature, together
with church furniture and organ cases, was brought to his friend's
office.
The second friend and client to whom we refer was the late
Mr. John Montefiore, a West India merchant of most delightful
and charming personality, and a great lover of art, who was the
possessor of a considerable collection of pictures and prints.
Much attracted by some iron gates at the Exhibition, executed by
Hart & Son of Wych Street from Bentley's designs, he hastened
to call on their author, whom, as he informed his family, " I found
such an interesting young man that I have asked him to call," and
immediately commissioned him to design a font for St. Mary's
Church, Bridgetown, Barbados, and later a fountain for the same
town ; both are full of detail of which his diaries tell in referring
to the constant and painstaking supervision of their execution.
Bentley's friendship for the Montefiores, to all of whom he became
equally devoted, strengthened with the passing of years ; he was
always intensely grateful for this early encouragement when it
was so sorely needed.
As one instance of their happy understanding may be recalled
the occasion when Mr. Montefiore asked him to inspect his
house at Streatham with reference to some necessary repairs,
premising that the survey was to be considered a business trans-
action. Bentley demurred, but at length gave way, and arranged
to breakfast with the family before going over the house. Later
in the day he sent in a written report, in which attached to every
item of his morning's inspection was a portentous charge, total-
358 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
ling altogether about fifty guineas. At the foot of the bill, how-
ever, appeared a credit allowance of forty-nine guineas " for my
breakfast and enjoyment in your pleasant company " — leaving a
fee of one guinea as a concession to Mr. Montefiore's stipulation!
W. Butterfield, the architect, a friend of T. C. Lewis, came
also to be counted, though never of his intimates, among Bentley's
friends. It is said that the latter was the only architect he ever
called on, and indeed Butterfield was as friendly with him as he
was with any one. Though a great man, he was certainly also a
man of many little peculiarities. For example, though his office
was in his private house, he never descended to it from the
upper floors, unless fully dressed for the street in hat, great coat
and gloves ! The two men disagreed strongly on some points, for
example on the treatment of the roofing of church aisles. Bentley
disliked greatly the effect of lean-to aisle roofs showing in the
Avestern elevation, a feature approved and often introduced by
Butterfield. But they agreed, in spite of fundamental divergences
of taste and practice, in a great mutual admiration.
Yet another dear friend was Frederick S. Barff, at one period
in Anglican orders, who had become a Catholic about 1850. He
turned his attention then to chemical science and research, and
later held a lectureship at Beaumont College, Windsor. Through
Barff and his brother, the late Rev. Albert Barif, Prebendary of
St. Paul's and vicar of St. Giles', Cripplegate, Bentley from time
to time obtained a good many commissions, especially for stained
glass, and probably through the former came to know a number
of Jesuits who afterwards became his clients, Frederick Barff's
learning, his experiments in rendering indestructible the pigments
used by stained glass painters, together with his interest in
enamelling and kindred subjects, made him a welcome addition
to the Southampton Street set from 1865 and onwards.
Clerical friends had come much into Bentley's life during his
architectural pupilage. Foremost among these was the Rev. H. A.
Rawes, D.D., whose interest in him began when he was super-
intending the building of Clutton's church of St. Francis of Assisi
FRIENDS AND OPPORTUNITIES 359
in Pottery Lane, Netting Hill. One of the band of Oblates of St.
Charles gathered together by Dr. Manning in Bayswater in 1857
at Cardinal Wiseman's behest, Dr. Rawes had been a clergyman
of the Church of England who, like his great chief and the Rev.
C. J. Laprimaudaye, also an Oblate, was brought into the
Catholic Church by the Oxford Movement. Rawes was a mystic,
with poetic imagination exalted to things holy and beautiful.
From him Bentley derived something of his love of symbolism
and a great deal of his spiritual fervour. But Father Rawes'
influence did not at once incline Bentley to the Catholic Church ;
the process was one of slow groAvth.
The religious impressions of youth had been assimilated in the
Low Church atmosphere of a provincial town — indeed, Bentley's
family leant in some measure towards Nonconformity. Undoubtedly
he retained all his life a certain Puritanism of thought and
habit which in effect reacted on and strengthened Catholic ob-
servance. Arriving in London without any particular religious
enthusiasm, it was nevertheless almost a foregone conclusion that
the strong stirrings and awakening of the Church of England at
that period should attract a young man of his mental and moral
calibre, just released from boyhood's leading strings. Possibly
it was through the clergyman with whom he first lodged in London
that he learned to need more stimulating spiritual food than life
had heretofore offered, and then his natural instinct for the beautiful
led him straight to the devotional and more ornate ritual of the
High Church services. He had a voice of good quality and became
for a time a member of the choir of St. Stephen's, Walworth, until
a change of lodgings, to be nearer to his work, took him, as we have
seen, to live with the Blackburnes in Grenville Street, Bloomsbury.
He must have strained or lost his singing voice then in some way,
for in later life he never uttered a note.
The story is told that, one day in 1859, while inspecting the
work in the Jesuit church at Farm Street, he got into an argu-
ment on religion with an old Irish labourer, and received such a
" licking " that he left the church without saying a word, but
860 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
with impressions that helped him later when Father Rawes took
him in hand, though that time had not yet come.
Two years later Bentley took rheumatic fever, becoming so
seriously ill that N. H. J. Westlake, calling on him one day, and
knowing something of the doubts that then were besetting him,
advised him to vow to St. Thomas of Canterbury to become a
Catholic if recovery were vouchsafed. He did begin to mend
then, and afterwards confided to Westlake that the promise had
been made, but to the Blessed Virgin. The final decision was
made when he came to know Cardinal Wiseman, which came
about in this way.
After the completion and opening of St. Francis's Church in
February 1860, Father Rawes entrusted to Bentley the designing
of an altar of St. John the Evangelist — the panels in its reredos
and frontal being painted by N. H. J. Westlake. Cardinal Wiseman
was much struck with this altar, and invited the painter to lunch,
who then took the opportunity of giving credit to the designer,
explaining that he was not yet a Catholic. Wiseman exclaimed,
" If he becomes a Catholic, I will baptize him ! " The promise
was redeemed on Wednesday in Holy Week, April 16th, 1862,
when John Bentley, assuming the additional name of Francis, was
the first to be baptized at Notting Hill in the new baptistery
and font he had himself designed.
The Cardinal thereafter got to know the young architect well.
He told him in conversation on one occasion that he (Bentley) would
live to see the day when Catholicism or Protestantism would not
be the question, but " Christ or no Christ," a prophetic utterance
when we consider the battle waging round religious teaching in
our schools, in which Catholic and Anglican are fighting side by
side. Three years later, when Cardinal Wiseman died, Bentley
shared keenly in the universal sorrow. His diary tells how after
attending the funeral in Kensal Green Cemetery on February 23rd
— a great concourse at which all London seemed to be present —
he returned home " completely knocked up."
The second and third Archbishops of Westminster were both
CHANGE OF RELIGION 361
drawn from the Congregation of Oblates at Bayswater, and with
both he was to enter into very close relations, as subsequent
chapters will show. For Cardinal Manning he felt a deep venera-
tion, and regarded him as a saint to the last days of his life.
Bentley embraced his new spiritual life with all the fervour
of an ardent, self-denying nature ; the Catholic ideal became the
pervading spirit of his life and work. This keenness to observe
the law in the spirit rather than merely in the letter, led him into
an excess of fasting in his first Lent. Misunderstanding the regu-
lations, he confused the law of abstinence with that of fasting,
and ate no meat during the whole forty days. How heartily he
hated fish by the time Easter Sunday came round, and how
desperately he fought the temptations offered by savoury-smelling
viands, which seemed never so desirable and he never so hungry
as during those weeks ! His disgust must have been intense
when at the end he discovered the needless severity of the penance.
The incident is worth recording, however, for it strikes the key-
note of his obedience and loyalty. Never was meat allowed to
appear on his table, even for non-Catholic guests, on abstinence
days, and as strictly he forbade theatre-going on Fridays for
himself and his family.
He used to attend very frequently the little chapel of St.
Anselm and St. Cecilia in Duke Street, Bloomsbury. Later, after
it ceased to exist, he went to the church in Maiden Lane, and
would occasionally, when time permitted, walk to Pugin's Cathedral
of St. George at Southwark, or to either of the Oblates' churches
in Bayswater.
From Mr. Charles Hadfield comes the following delightful
pen portrait of the artist at this period, which, in conjunction with
the photograph (Plate XLV), gives a most faithful impression :
" He was a ' fellow of infinite wit,' with a charming manner
and a lovable and attractive personality which surrounded him
with friends. He loved association and intimacy with distin-
guished men, his seniors, who appreciated his precocious wit and
undoubted talent. . . . There was always, even in his moments
362 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
of fun, a straying far-off look and influence about him pointing
to the noble ideals which guided him through life. . . . He hated
snobbery and shams of all kinds, and denounced them energetically ;
was a hard hitter in an argument, and generally scored. At
such times his hair used to bristle up, and with a face full of
determination and intellectual energy he was perfectly irresistible."
One of these small argumentative scores was a propos of X
remarking one day at 14, Southampton Street that ' Bentley's
statement was an offence against common sense.' Bentley glared
at him and asked X if he could define common sense. Poor
X , who often spoke in haste, could not, and utterly collapsed,
to the fun of those of the coterie who were listeners.
The photograph reveals the massive head, with its broad
brow, very full over the eyes, and mane of hair, tawny brown
and always rather unmanageable — " the young man who never
brushes his hair " was his sobriquet in certain quarters, but the
accusation was imtrue, though he never submitted to the close
crop which, he maintained, made all modern men look like escaped
convicts ! Nose and mouth were heavy, the latter, shadowed by
a light brown moustache, above a strong chin and square jaw.
The great charm of the face lay in the deep-set blue eyes — a very
soft blue, with a " far-away " look — and the delightfully humorous
smile, which lit up and transfigured the whole countenance. It
would begin with an indescribable twinkle of merriment in the
eyes impossible to forget. His children used often to repeat
things that had amused him before, in the hope that he would
again break into smiles and laughter.
When roused to anger or indignation, his hair would literally
stand on end, as Mr. Hadfield says. Detesting the stage with a
quite bitter hatred, while equally intolerant of religious discussions
in his house, on certain subjects it was hopeless to attempt to
enter into argument with one who otherwise was always exqui-
sitely tender to the feelings and prejudices of others. With a
fine capacity for friendship, yet by few was the precept " If thy
right hand scandalize thee, cut it off " more rigidly applied. If
CHARACTER AND APPEARANCE 363
any he trusted, however dear, deviated in tiie least from the high
standard of principle by which his own life was ruled, the friend-
ship ceased from that moment. There may have been a slight
puritanical severity of temperament to narrow his judgments, but
certainly no hardness of heart ; for he always suffered acutely in
the breaking of bonds he had accounted sacred.
Rather above middle height, he was very broad-shouldered
and strongly built, with well-shaped hands and feet. The friends
of these early 'sixties say he was always smartly dressed,
though not a dandy ; but he used himself to admit to having
gone through this phase, as most young men do. He seems to
have affected some vanities of dress ; on one hot summer's night,
at Phyffers' studio, a wine bottle with a very obstinate cork,
which no one else could manage, had to be tackled. " Bentley,"
says one who was present, " undertook it, and with his usual
energy, he pulled the cork and bottle-neck off, the wine running
over his smart white waistcoat and light nether garments to our
intense amusement ! " Later he became a little careless about his
dress and appearance, but after his marriage (he was then thirty-
five) was made to wear gloves and smarten up considerably.
In spite of a solid and rather typical Yorkshire frame, he was
never very robust, and all through life suffered from severe and
frequent headaches, which sometimes brought in their train
harassing fits of depression. A friend calling on him one day
found him just recovering from an attack of this sort. He told
how he had sat in his room for a day or two, unable to keep his
thoughts together or to draw a line. " But," he went on, " I
have just finished reading Cardinal Newman's Dream of Gerontius,
and it has stirred and roused me up to life and action." Probably
the headaches and depression, largely constitutional, were intensified
by insufficient exercise, for, as years went on, the daily walks were
gradually abandoned from lack of time, also because his hand
became shaky after walking to the office in the morning. Then
again, the habit of forgetting luncheon or at the most taking a very
slender one, his only food between breakfast and dinner, in the
364 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
long run greatly weakened the constitution of which he had ever
been supremely careless.
Remonstrances from friends and family were alike unavailing.
Time, in his opinion, was too valuable to be wasted on thoughts
of bodily comfort. After one of the several serious illnesses which
affected his closing years, W. Christian Symons, the painter and
mosaicist, and an old friend, wrote imploring him to take thought
of his health, and especially made suggestions on the matter of
diet. Bentley replied : " If I were to take food in the middle of
the day, I should lose so much time that it would be impossible
to keep things going. ... I wish circumstances allowed me to
act on your advice."
This passion for work kept him often at his desk until late into
the night, for he would resume his pencil after his evening com-
panions had left. Friends passing his rooms very late, and seeing
the lamp still burning, would come in to remonstrate, and learn
perhaps that he had not set foot out of doors all day. Such were
the strenuous beginnings of Bentley's lifework.
CHAPTER XVI
TEN YEARS OF SMALL ECCLESIASTICAL COMMISSIONS AND DE-
VELOPING TALENT. 1860 — 1870
Useful clerical friendships — Sketch of the foundation of the Oblates of St. Charles and
their influence on Bentley's life — Additions, decorations, and furniture, St. Francis's.
Netting Hill— Schools and presbytery of St. Francis's, Netting Hill — Addition of
north aisle, St. Mary of the Angels — Altars at SS. Peter and Edward, Palace Street
— Beginning of connection with Franciscan nuns — Exhibits at Great Exhibition,
1862 — Altar and pulpit, St. Mary's, Cadogan Street — Altar and tabernacle, St.
Mary's, Crook — Friendship with the Redemptorists — Altar, reredos, tabernacle,
etc., at Bishop Eton, Liverpool — Small commissions at St. Mary's, Clapham —
Tabernacle and alterations, St. Oswald's, Old Swan, Liverpool — Altar and reredos,
St. Patrick's, Liverpool — Altar frontal and tabernacle, St. Peter's, Doncaster — Com-
missions received from and through the Hadfields — Letter re a rejected pulpit —
Anglican commissions — Fonts — Drinking fountain at Barbados — Reading desk,
etc., Christ Church, Streatham — Reredos and font at CoHaton Church — Reredos
and restoration, Northbourne Church — Hammersmith Seminary and the promise
of a turn of fortune — New chambers at 13, John Street, Adelphi.
It must not be inferred from the heading of this chapter that
Bentley's work was developed solely on ecclesiastical lines during
the first ten years of his architectural practice ; although it is
undoubtedly true that a number of Catholic commissions of smaU
scope and slender pecuniary profit formed his mainstay during
certainly the earlier part of this somewhat struggling decade. For
convenience of arrangement and to ensure continuity of interest, it
has seemed best to group the domestic work, the stained glass,
monuments and miscellaneous products of his entire life under
their respective separate headings ; and, since Bentley's change of
style in church building coincided roughly with the close of the
decade, to treat in this third chapter solely of the early church
work, both constructive and decorative. Catholic and Anglican.
Trained in the office of a Catholic church architect, and himself
II— 3 365
366 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
recently a convert to that faith, Bentley necessarily looked to
its clergy for employment. Chief among the earliest of his clients
ranked the community of Oblates of St. Charles Borromeo, founded
at Bayswater by Dr. Manning in 1857. So far-reaching was to
become their influence on the young convert's life — indeed, since
Cardinal Vaughan was one of their early members, it continued
to the very end — that it may be deemed not altogether irrelevant
to recall briefly the circumstances in which the Oblates' mission
in West London was started and those that brought him within
its sphere.
In 1850, the year of the restoration of the Catholic Hierarchy
in Great Britain, there existed but a single church of that faith
within the wide district extending from Marble Arch to Harrow-
on-the-Hill. This, a diminutive school chapel served by one priest,
was in Westmoreland Road, Bayswater. Manning, urged in 1857
by Cardinal Wiseman to make this spot in the vast unworked
area committed to his charge the centre of the missionary and
educational scheme so dear to the hearts of both, derived encour-
agement from the fact that the local Catholics had in the
preceding seven years taken independent steps to improve their
position. They had secured a plot of land in Westmoreland
Road, on which two ladies living near by undertook the charge
of erecting a Gothic church of sufficient proportions. The
architect employed was Mr. Thomas Meyer, who in 1850
designed a chvirch, consisting of sanctuary, nave, and two aisles,
intended to be completed with a spire. Unfortunately the two
benefactors under-estimated the cost, and when the walls and
part of the tower were achieved, they were forced to suspend
the work for lack of funds. During several years the skeleton
church remained roofless, and in the meantime the two sisters
died. Since within the boundaries of Westminster proper no
space could be found for Dr. Manning's great enterprise, the
roofless church and the spiritually almost virgin soil of the Bays-
water district seemed to offer ideal conditions for his energies.
The objects of this community of Oblates, similar to that
EARLY ECCLESIASTICAL COMMISSIONS 367
established by the Saint in Milan, were, according to their statutes,
" not only to provide for the ordinary administration of a parish,
but to raise a number of ecclesiastics for any diocesan work, such
as teaching, giving missions, or assisting at other churches that
might be in need of their services." ^ It should be remembered
that in the south of England at this date not one of the seminaries
since founded were in existence, and therefore the importance of
Manning's scheme cannot, from the Catholic view-point, be over-
estimated.
Without delay, therefore, " Dr. Manning with five priests and
two clerics " (the former including Charles Laprimaudaye, the second
of the great trio of friends and fellow-converts of whom Robert
Wilberforce was the third -), " on Whit Sunday, 1857, took tem-
porary possession of a small house, 12, Sutherland Place, close to
the unfinished church." Meanwhile workmen were set to roofing
it in and building the adjoining community house, and two months
later sufficient progress had been made to open the church for
divine service. The event took place on July 2nd, when Cardinal
Wiseman solemnly blessed the church under the title of St. Mary
of the Angels. For eight years it remained the centre of Manning's
spiritual activities.
Building enterprise was then rapidly developing the Bayswater
district, and very soon it became necessary to decentralize to some
extent the missionary work. The Rev. Henry A. Rawes was sent
to take charge of the poor and populous district of Notting Dale ;
to Father Kirk was entrusted the cure of souls on the eastern
side of the mission area, then known as Kensal New Town.
" There was at that time," says Father Kirk, " but little pros-
pect of purchasing land or building a church, but something might
1 From Reminiscences of an Oblate of St. Charles, by the late Rev. Francis J. Kirk,
O.S.C., to whom we are indebted for much that follows. Passages taken from his book
are within quotation marks.
* Who died respectively in 1858 and 1857. All three had been married in their
Anghcan days, and all were widowers, which led to the bestowal of the waggish name of
" The Widowers' Children " on the new community. R. Wilberforce died in Rome on
the eve of the founding of the community.
368 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
be done, it was thought, by appointing one of our fathers to look
after the enterprise of the straggHng flock. . . , The canal was
the boundary that separated the town from the Kensal Road.
The steep bridge leading from Westbourne Park Station was not
in existence at that period ; all who wished to reach the Harrow
Road were obliged to cross the canal in a ferry boat at the cost of
a halfpenny. The entire neighbourhood resembled a country
village. The dwelling-places were small cottages consisting of two
rooms, with a wash-house at the back, each cottage standing
alone in a plot of ground with shrubs and trees, which were very
convenient for hanging out clothes to dry. Nearly all the women
were employed at laundry work. . . .
" A short experience gave evidence that occasional visits were
but of little use. The distance from church and schools was an
insuperable difficulty for both parents and children. Nor would
it do to wait until some great works were accomplished. A
humble beginning must be made. Accordingly, possession was
obtained of one of the cottages and arrangements were made for
a little school under the charge of a suitable mistress. The two
rooms gave sufficient space for the children and the wash-house at
the back was admirably adapted for the reception of infants
while their mothers were employed. A row of sleeping cots were
arranged against the wall with a girl to look after them. . , . The
same cottage was also made use of for another very important
purpose. On Monday evenings the grown-up people were invited
to attend a short religious instruction and devotions, enlivened by
the singing of one or two hymns. It was easy enough to fill both
rooms."
Meanwhile the district was rapidly becoming more urban ;
the cottages gave place to long rows of three-storeyed houses and
shops, and it soon became imperative to provide on a larger scale
for the spiritual needs of the people. One of the new houses was
rented, the ground floor was transformed into a chapel, and the
upper into schools. This in its turn becoming inadequate, a plot of
land was acquired in Bosworth Road, and fairly large schools,
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EARLY ECCLESIASTICAL COMMISSIONS 369
their lower storey designed to serve as a temporary church, were
built by the late Mr. S. J. NichoU, at one time in partnership with
Bentley's friend T. J. Willson. The congregation had outgrown
this accommodation by 1872, when Bentley was asked to put up
a temporary iron church until such time as funds would permit the
building of a permanent church. How Bentley was entrusted
with the designing of this is a later story which is told in another
place (Chap. XVII).
St. Francis's Church, Notting Hill
His first commission from the newly founded Oblates was in
connection with the church at the opposite corner of their cure.
In the mean streets of Notting Dale was (and still is) congregated
a dense population of the very poorest class, including then many
Irish Catholic emigrants. So close was the network of narrow
streets that it was difficult to discover a spot on which to erect
even a small chapel. Ultimately, on a humble site secured in
Pottery Lane a church in the severely simple style imposed both
by the poverty of the neighbourhood and the clergy's limited
resources had been built by Mr. Thomas Glutton in 1859, and
opened on February 2nd, 1860.
Bentley, then just twenty, was, as already recorded, an as-
sistant in this architect's office, and fast bound under the spell of
the revolt from national styles and the French influence then
in fashion and colouring the latter days of the Gothic revival.
Charged to supervise the erection of the Pottery Lane church,
his genius and originality, fast expanding in the congenial at-
mosphere of Clutton's office, soon captured the notice of Father
Rawes, the priest in charge, who, within a short space after the
opening, realized the total inadequacy of the accommodation
provided by the new church. Says Father Kirk again : " Great
efforts were necessarily and successfully made to secure an adjoin-
ing plot of ground, though even this hardly sufficed for the
intended enlargement of the church and the building of a presbytery
61339
370 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
and schools. Nothing less than genius could have succeeded in
adapting so irregular a piece of ground to the proposed plans."
To Bentley, who had then just taken the momentous decision
to refuse Glutton's proffered partnership and begin practice on his
own account, Father Rawes entrusted the additions and, as means
would permit, the internal embellishment of the church. This,
consisting of nave, north aisle, and chancel, was enlarged in 1861,
by the addition of a baptistery at the west end of the aisle, built
in thirteenth-century French Gothic style, which " as the produc-
tion of a young architect then little known to fame, was much
admired. There is a breadth and simplicity about the design
which distinguished it from previous work, as well as from much
that was executed at that time. In the character of the capitals,
the treatment of the font, and other details a tendency to depart
from Enghsh tradition may be noted, and this is the more re-
markable because the architect, like many others, has since
retraced his steps and is now emphatically insular in his
taste." '
A more modern critic remarks that while thus markedly
departing from insular tradition Bentley yet contrived to avoid
that " bizarrerie which in the hands of unskilful practitioners
caused such a revulsion against the Franco-Italian mania and
did much to further the return of our chief architects to the gener-
ally accepted and much better liked modes of English Gothic.
Among them was Mr. Bentley himself, whose churches of St.
Mary, Cadogan Street, Chelsea, and Corpus Christi at Brixton are
eminently northern in the character of their plan and detail." '
Into this stone groined baptistery colour is introduced by
means of shafts of red and Irish green marble. Certain details
of the masonry destined for the sculptor's chisel were for lack of
funds never finished in Bentley's lifetime ; a stone tablet affixed
to the north wall nearly fifty years after the construction of the
baptistery records the interesting fact of their completion by the
» History of the Gothic Revival, C. L. Eastlako, 1872.
* London Churches, Ancient and Modern, T. Francis Bumpus.
EARLY ECCLESIASTICAL COMMISSIONS 371
architect's son Osmond in 1907, who added also the iron grilles
and gates, and two opus sectilc wall panels, as pictured in the
woodcut' from Eastlake's Gothic Revival (Plate XLVl). The in-
scription sets forth that :
" This baptistery and font, originally designed and built by
John Francis Bentley, and completed by his son, Osmond Bentley,
in October a.d. 1907, in commemoration of the Sacerdotal Jubilee
of the Rev. James Baker White, Rector of this church, was newly
adorned and guarded by these grilles in the month of October
1910, in memory of the same beloved pastor, who on the 1st of
January, 1910, fell asleep in the Lord. R.I.P."
It is curious and perhaps worthy of record in these restless
days of change of employment and of dwelling-place that a mason
who worked on this completion for the architect's son was the son
of one employed on the baptistery by Bentley in 1861.
The font, designed in the same year, consists of a circular
bowl of red granite borne on a large central shaft with four lesser
columns of dark green marble springing from an octagonal plinth.
This plinth is built up of successive mouldings in red marble,
green marble, and alabaster. The topmost section of alabaster is
adorned with incised leaf ornament and four panels containing
angels, done in black cement. The platform and steps on which
the font is raised are, like the rest of the pavement, carried out
in tessellated tiles. The boldly foliated alabaster caps and their
four short and slender green marble shafts are about equivalent
in height. Depending by four chains and a corona is the octagonal
txirret-shaped cover, fashioned in polished oak and with demi-
figures of angels painted in black on its eight panels. Designed
in 1865, it formed Bentley's thank-offering for reception into the
Catholic Church and his baptism, the first to take place in this
chapel. There was then no font, and Cardinal Wiseman made use
of a basin for the simple ceremony. The workmanship of the font
cover was the gift of his friend Mr. T. C. Lewis, in whose organ-
building shops it was executed.
1 Bentley, we are told, was at great pains over the preparation of this woodcut.
372 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
The baptistery windows, the only stained glass in the church
designed by Bentley, are two single lights, depicting respectively
St. John the Baptist wearing a sheepskin garment beneath a green
robe with rich red lining, and St. Charles Borromeo habited as a
cardinal, and holding the red hat in his right hand. Below the
saint's feet is painted the motto of the Oblates, the word " Humi-
litas " symbolically croAvned. This glass was painted by Messrs.
Layers, Barraud & Westlake from Bentley's designs.
Since the irregular and awkward site did not admit of any
possibility of widening the church, it was decided to increase its
capacity by prolonging the aisle eastwards in a long graceful
curve round the apse to form a lady chapel, dedicated to our
Lady of the Seven Dolours. Within the next two years the
enlargement was completed, and Bentley had also built the porch
at the north-west corner, and the presbytery and school in
thirteenth-century French Gothic style ^ upon the remaining por-
tion of land at the west end of the church.
These are three- storey ed buildings in yellow brick with stone
window dressings and roof corbels. The roofing is carried out in
bands of purplish and greenish slates, delightful features being
the pyramidal turret on the right side of the house, with its wrought
iron finial cross and the school-house gable above bold lion and
dragon corbels, crowned with another finely wrought finial. The
house is united to church and sacristies on the rear part of the
site, and the schools forming a continuous building are brought
forward on the left at an angle flush with the frontage, leaving a
small paved courtyard in the centre. The whole group affords
evidence, in spite of the pinch of slender funds, of the way in which
Bentley contrived even at this early date to impart originality in
effective touches of detail to the least promising commissions.
The house rooms were of necessity inconveniently small and
without any back ventilation, and the only way to get a play-
ground for the children was by utilizing the flat roof of the
schoolhouse, protected by iron railings. Doubtless here the
> An excellent example of this style, says Mr. C. L. Eastlake.
X
EARLY ECCLESIASTICAL COMMISSIONS 373
children had the advantage of purer air than that of the squaHd
surroundings of Pottery Lane.
Bentley's earher commissions for St. Francis's Church, nine
months after its completion by Glutton, date from November 1860,
and consisted of small accessories such as an alabaster offertory
box, polished and slightly inlaid with designs in black cement, and
the bracket for the statue of the patron saint, of similar description.
We next find him at work on an oak chancel seat (a plain chair
of folding type) and in March 1861 occupied with the drawings
for the altar of St. John referred to in the preceding chapter,
momentous since they really marked an important development
of his career (Plate XL VI).
This altar stands between two columns in the Lady Chapel
and occupies one of the cants occasioned by the chapel bending,
as we have described, partly round the apse, on account of the
irregularity of the site. The frontal of the altar is of alabaster,
panelled by'cusped arcading, marble and glass mosaics filhng in the
spandrels ; incised ornament in black cement also decorates the
sills, bases, and triangular pieces over the caps. The first super-
altar has a row of incised paterae, with marble centres ; the
second is crenulated, the spaces between each crenulation being
filled in with an incised decoration, with projecting spars of
marble in the centre of every flower. The reredos is a moulded
cusped frame of alabaster enclosing a painted representation of
St. John giving communion to the Blessed Virgin. The diaper
on the gold background is an arrangement of eagles with inter-
mediate stars, while on the right of the Blessed Virgin is the
crowned lily and on the left of St. John the palm. The nimbi are
also symbolically decorated. In the frontal are two pictures on gold
backgrounds representing St. John and his prototype Daniel ; in the
former are introduced the eagle and palm, in the latter the lions.
These subjects, treated in a purely decorative manner, and
therefore kept flat in colour and outlined with a strong black
line, were painted by Mr. N. H. J. Westlake, the first of a long
series of works executed in collaboration with Bentley. Earp of
374 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
Lambeth was entrusted with all his stone carving at this period.
The reproduction of an old engraving of this altar of St. John
illustrates the trend of Bentley's taste and provides material for
comparison with his altars of middle and later years. The love
of colour and the rich effects produced by the use of marbles,
mosaic, and enamel was strong in him then, and is evidenced on
every side in St. Francis's Church, though nowhere does it result
in anything garish in effect or " out of gear," as he would have
termed it — a favourite expression often on his lips.
Two years later saw the construction of the high altar and
reredos, sumptuous with rich inlays of marble and glass mosaic and
black cement set in alabaster. The frontal, recessed behind four
shafts of light greyish-green marble, with square bases, has a central
panel painted with a representation of the dead Christ on a gold
ground. The lateral panels are canted and filled with mosaics
of pale blue and red triangular tesserae, while the sills are enriched
with mosaic inlays in green and gold. The first super-altar is
bordered with a band of pink marble closely inset with acute
triangles of black ; the second, also of alabaster, is ornamented
with a series of sunk circular panels, each containing a concentric
red and green marble inlay, and divided by black incised folia-
tion. The ark-shaped tabernacle of alabaster has a door of brass
enriched around a full-length figure of the Sacred Heart with
engraving, enamel-work, and jewels.
The reredos, affixed to the east wall, consists of an alabaster
screen adorned with tile mosaic work mainly in green and gold.
Beneath the broad and powerfully chiselled leaf cornice, four
panels, in the form of seven-rayed stars, contain on gold back-
grounds painted half-figures of four types of the great Sacrifice,
Abel, Noah, Abraham, and Melehisedech, while in the centre of
the structure an heraldic hound — the " Hound of Heaven " —
emerges from the leafy cornice to bear upon his back a small
circular throne, backed by an oval alabaster panel of mosaic,
whence rises the small tower-like canopy, gilt and surmounted by
the divine Pelican.
EARLY ECCLESIASTICAL COMMISSIONS 375
From the sanctuary one gets a charming view of the curved
Lady Chapel, which consists of two bays and an apse groined in
bold yet effectively simple fashion.^ Each bay is pierced on the
north side by a pair of coupled lights, and is open on the south to
the chancel. The apse groining springs from two slender shafts of
grey marble, and a pair of corbels between which the altar is
placed. Its walls are lined with a dado of encaustic tiles to the
level of the super-altar ; filling the space between this and the
springing are frames of moulded alabaster enclosing the three
subjects of the reredos.
Bentley was engaged upon this altar and the alabaster piscina
also in 1863, when Mr. Westlake did the seven paintings on slate
representing the Seven Dolours of our Lady, three on the north
wall, three on the reredos, and one on the south side, which
forms the north-east pier of the sanctuary. It should be
remarked that the pictures on the north wall, namely the Pre-
sentation, the Flight into Egypt, and the Loss of the Child on
the return from Jerusalem are not framed in marble mouldings
as are those of the altarpiece. The subjects of the latter are
(centrally) the Crucifixion, (left) the carrying of the Cross, (right) the
descent from the Cross. The adjoining wall panel depicts Christ
laid upon His Mother's knees. Fronting the sanctuary pier is
a full-length representation of St. Francis of Assisi, wliich unfor-
tunately has almost perished.
The altar of alabaster, almost white with roseate veining, has a
frontal enriched with small paintings, and a mensa borne on four
green marble columns surmounted each by a narrow panel within
a trefoil arch containing a small full-length figure of an archangel
drawn in gold upon a dark ground. The centre panel of the
frontal formed by a lozenge within a quatrefoil contains a demi-
figure of our Lady of Sorrows, her heart pierced with seven swords.
Right and left are four circular medallions painted with busts of
^ Recently (1913) re-decorated in colour by Osmond Bentley. The pictures on
slate, which had suffered severely from atmosphere, neglect, and the passage of time, were
rescued from utter destruction by the architect's son-in-law a year or two previously.
\
376 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
four virgin martyrs, St. Agnes, St. Catherine, St. Cecilia, and St.
Agatha. Along the super-altar are sculptured square paterse with
foliage, centred with a boss of rose or green marble, and inter-
spaced with horizontal fluting.
During 1863 and 1864 Bentley continued to design numerous
items of church furniture for Dr. Rawes ; the list includes, among
metal work, a monstrance, an iron offering stand for the Lady
altar, a processional cross, a music stand, candle branches and
candlesticks ; among church vestments, a tabernacle veil, red and
purple altar frontals (the purple one having two applied crosses of
cloth of gold embroidery bordered with purple and gold fringe),
red, white and purple veils, a processional canopy with applied
heraldic ornament in coloured satins on a white ground,
hangings for the reredos, and a banner. Among miscellaneous
furnishings we find reliquaries and a confessional mentioned in
1863, and a press for altar frontals in the ensuing year.
A reference to the jewelled monstrance, a beautiful thing
on which Bentley bestowed infinite pains, is enshrined in Father
Rawes' dedication of his book of poems and essays, Sursum,
published in 1864 :
" I PUT THIS BOOK UNDER THE PROTECTION OF ST. JOHN THE
EVANGELIST
THE DISCIPLE WHOM JESUS LOVED
AND OF
MY FATHER ST. CHARLES BORROMEO
AND
I DEDICATE IT TO
THOSE MEMBERS OF THE CONGREGATION
OF
ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI, NOTTING HILL
WHO
IN THEIR LOVE FOR THE BLESSED SACRAMENT
HAVE GIVEN
A MONSTRANCE TO OUR LORD."
EARLY ECCLESIASTICAL COMMISSIONS 377
The decoration of the fabric of St. Francis's Church meanwhile
proceeded year by year ; in 1864 was done the carving of the
porch and the arcading to two bays of the chancel ; in 1865 the
arch of the chancel was added and the sanctuary finished with
painted decoration ; the Stations of the Cross hung in the nave
also received some additional decoration. In 1870 Bentley designed
a canopied niche for the statue of the Blessed Virgin, obtaining
a very precious and refined effect by the juxtaposition of various
coloured marbles and crystals. From a dragon corbel rises a
slender shaft, its lower half of green marble, the upper of alabaster,
with an alabaster cap which broadens to receive a thicker shaft
of dull red, in section a quatrefoil ; this in turn bears upon its
foliated capital a corona of alabaster, set closely with faceted
lozenges and polished bosses of crystal and marble, pui-ple, red,
and green. Above this comes the star-shaped pedestal on which
the statue stands. At the height of the shoulders are inserted
in the wall sculptured half-figures of SS. Gabriel and Raphael
supporting a crown of fieur de lis whence springs a canopy, with
two tiers of cusped openings, surmounted by a pineapple finial.
In 1872-3 the sanctuary was re-decorated, and the ceiling
painted by N. H. J. Westlake ; its two figures of angels holding
scrolls have survived and been incorporated with later redecora-
tions. The stained glass in the baptistery windows was also
executed in 1872. Four years later the brass altar rails and some
more candlesticks were made and new heating arrangements pro-
vided, and this seems to be the last of the improvements effected
during Dr. Rawes' rectorship, who was transferred in 1880 to
St. Mary of the Angels to occupy a similar post.
St. Maey of the Angels, Bayswater
Bentley's work for the Oblates' mother church during the
period under consideration did not amount to much ; it began
in 1864 with a belfry stage for the tower, which Bentley thought
might be completed as a tower rather than according to the original
design as a syire ; it yet remains unfinished, since the enlargement
378 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
of congregational accommodation has ever been of greater
urgency.
In 1868 the baptistery was enclosed by iron railings and gates
from Bentley's designs. The contract for an addition signed on
June 12th, 1868, provided a second aisle on the north side, form-
ing two side chapels dedicated to the Sacred Heart and St. Joseph.
Bentley had not yet shed French Gothic influence ; and it is
interesting to compare the mouldings in this aisle with that on
the south, built only three years later, and with the prolongation
in 1887 of the north aisle to form the chapel of St. Charles, when
he had definitely found himself and made the English late
Decorated style his own. The other extensions of the church,
ranging over a period of thirty years, fall therefore completely
within the scope of the succeeding chapter.
St. Peter's and St. Edward's, Palace Street
Bentley was employed in yet another quarter by the Oblate
Fathers, namely in the church of St. Peter and St. Edward, Palace
Street, Westminster. Dr. Manning had been anxious to make
this part of London the headquarters of his new Society of
Priests ; we have seen how Providence decided otherwise ; but at
the time that the project was yet in its infancy, he had in 1856,
with Mr. Lapriraaudaye's assistance, bought nine small freehold
houses in Palace Street and begun to pull them down and make
preparation for the erection of a church. When the roofless
church at Bayswater was committed to his charge, so distasteful
was the idea of relinquishing work already begun, he obtained
Cardinal Wiseman's permission to carry out the original design
of founding a church and schools at Westminster, with the
difference that the church was erected on a much smaller
scale and humbly on a level with the basements of adjoining
houses. An Oblate was put in charge of it. Eventually as the
need for schools became urgent a new church of Italianate type ^
' " Gotliic architecture, together with the Pugins and their traditions, was exiled from
the diocese of Westminster." — Purcell's Life of Cardinal Manning, p. 356.
EARLY ECCLESIASTICAL COMMISSIONS 879
was built above the old, which thus became available for scholastic
purposes.
In June 1863, Bentley received from Father Francis J. Kirk,
who had been put in charge of the mission, the order to design an
altar to be dedicated to St. John and to Blessed Benedict Labre.
This remarkable side altar, placed on the south side of the church,
is constructed of alabaster, its richly carved dossal and frontal
adorned with fine inlays of various coloured marbles.
In 1865 he produced a brass sanctuary lamp and certain
apparels for the altar. The high altar itself, an important
structiu*e in stone and marble, followed in 1867 ; it consists of a
stone mensa carried on four shafts of pale pink marble, with
boldly foliated and very un-English caps and bases in alabaster,
partially gilt. The stone reredos (its delicate sculpture is now
coarsened by many coats of white paint) terminates laterally
in canopied niches surmounted by octagonal turrets flanked by
small figures of angels bearing roundels inscribed with the letters
I.H.S. Fine dignified figures of St. Edward, crowned and sceptred,
and St. Peter bearing the Keys and triple tiara, occupy these niches.
Doubtless they were sculptured in Phyffers' studio. The throne
consists of four cinquefoil moulded arches supporting a groined
canopy carried on delicate triple shafting — each arch being crowned
with a triangular crocketed canopy. Small angel figures bearing
types of Christ (the Pelican, the Lamb, etc.) on circular plaques
are placed on canopied pedestals at each angle of the throne,
which terminates in a hexagonal turret surmounted with a cross.
The back of the reredos is simple, with the exception of a
sculptured cornice of vine leaves and grapes. The tabernacle,
constructed of the same stone, contains within the tympanum
of its arch sculptures of Christ seated with the open book flanked
by two kneeling angels swinging censers.
During the 'eighties, Bentley's connection with Palace Street
was continued (his marriage had been solemnized there in 1874)
by the building of the presbytery and the internal decoration of
the church.
380 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
Franciscan Convent, Notting Hill
Out of the architect's friendship with the Oblates arose that
with the Franciscan nuns, and a professional connection enduring
for forty years, cemented by mutual admiration and respect.
Their gifted second abbess. Mother Mary Francis Burton (pro-
fessed in 1857), was a woman of singular strength of tempera-
ment, and stood high in Bentley's esteem, and she on her part
trusted him entirely and was wont to speak of his character in
the warmest terms, especially of the disinterested simplicity of
purpose shown in all his undertakings.
In May 1863, Mother Mary Elizabeth Lockhart ^ was abbess of
the convent in Portobello Road, a young foundation, born of
Dr. Manning's zeal for the education of destitute Catholic children,
and placed under his special direction. Much was required for
the furnishing and adornment of their chapel, but it was not
until 1870 that the nuns could afford to commission Bentley to
design a high altar to replace their temporary one. He had
designed a brass sanctuary lamp for them in 1863, and two
banners, to be embroidered by the religious, in 1866. This lamp,
although the Franciscans sold their convent to the Dominicans
several years ago, hangs in its ancient place, since it was too
large for their new convent chapel at Bocking, Essex.
The two first years of Bentley's practice were lean indeed,
but exhibits of designs for metal and stone work in the Exhibition
of 1862 brought him friends and notice and widened his circle of
clients. Chief among these exhibits may be mentioned a stone
reredos executed by Earp of Lambeth. Things began, in 1863,
to look more prosperous.
St. Mary's Church, Chelsea
There was then a small Catholic chapel, dating from 1812, of
1 Daughter of Mrs. Lockhart, a friend of Manning's in I^avington days, who preceded
him into the Catholic Church in 1846. Tlie daughter was tlion a member of an Anglican
sisterhood, and did not follow the maternal example till five years later, after Dr. Manning
had taken the same momentous step. Mother M. Elizabeth died in 1870 ; Bentley
designed her grave cross.
EARLY ECCLESIASTICAL COMMISSIONS 381
so-called classical design in Cadogan Street, Chelsea, which was
replaced by Bentley's Gothic church in 1879. His acquaintance
in 1863 or thereabouts with Father MacMullan, the priest in
charge, resulted in a commission to design a high altar and to
decorate the sanctuary with paintings. A trio of artists collabo-
rated, for Bentley gave the sculpture to Phyffers and the paintings
to N. H. J. Westlake.
The altar, built of the (then) favourite alabaster, is enriched
with inlays of glass mosaic in frontal and super-altar, and has
nervous and spirited sculpture in the former, whose three square
panels each enclose a moulded eight-pointed star enframing a
white marble group in alto-relievo. The central subject depicts
the coronation of the Blessed Virgin in Heaven, that on the left
the Annunciation, while that on the right shows the Adoration
of the Magi. In four niches, intervening and terminal, stand
upon pedestals little statues of the four evangelists bearing
emblems and having their symbols sculptured in alto-relievo in
the small square panels beneath each niche. A series of inlaid
paterae, in black, red, and white combined, is introduced to relieve
the simplicity of the second super-altar of alabaster, coped, like
the first, with grey Derbyshire marble. The alabaster tabernacle
has two slender shafts of Irish green to carry a trefoil-headed and
traceried arch. The throne, under a crocketed spire of wood, pierced,
carved, and gilt, in Bentley's later manner and from his design,
was added, after his death, by his son Osmond (Plate L).
The pulpit, executed in 1864, exhibits to a quite remarkable
extent, we think, the Romanesque inspiration colouring his work
at that time. Of alabaster and a horseshoe on plan, it rises
from a base of Derbyshire fossil marble. The panels, enclosed
in round-headed arches, are filled with small paintings of saints,
half-figures, in the early Italian manner. When Westlake had
finished these, Bentley carried them to the church and fixed them
in their places with his own hands (Plate L).
Other minor ecclesiastical works achieved in 1863 were the high
II— 4
382 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
altar for St. Mary's, Crook, near Darlington, for Father Wilkinson
(later Bishop of Hexham), an altar for the Convent of Mercy,
Chelsea, and three fonts. The northern commission was the
first link in a friendship of forty years with the late Bishop, who
had gone to live at Crook three years previously. Its simple late
Pointed church, in brick and stone, with a square tower, was built
by the Rev. Father Rooke, financially assisted by Mr. Ward, both
previously clergymen of the Church of England, the former being
attached to the mission from 1854 to 1860. Bentley visiting the
neighbouring college of St. Cuthbert at Ushaw for the speech
day of 1862, probably then received the order to design a high
altar for the comparatively new church at Crook, some twelve
miles away. It was on the occasion of that visit that he made
the acquaintance of the Hadfields, followed up by a week spent
with them in Sheffield the following Christmas, when began a
friendsliip that was to mean much to him dming many years.
St. Mary's, Crook
The high altar at St. Mary's, Crook, shows its kinship of in-
spiration with the Notting Hill work, and we find the same com-
bination of alabaster, painting, gilding, and mosaic inlays. The
alabaster frontal is triply panelled, each square frame enclosing
a quatrefoil, wherein are depicted, painted on a gold ground,
three events in the life of the Blessed Virgin, to whom the church
is dedicated : left, the Annunciation ; right, our Lady receiving
Communion at the hands of St. John ; centre, her Coronation in
Heaven. Full-length figures of angels occupy two narrow panels
intervening between the centre and side subjects. The reredos of
stone has four panels painted with representations of four archangels,
and is crowned with a carved cornice rising to the window-sill.
The throne, a crocketcd canopy, the tabernacle, and the altar
candlesticks were all designed by Bentley in 1864. That in maturer
life he saw little to be proud of in these early essays is shown
by his deprecatory reply to the present rector of St. Mary's,
Crook, when congratulating him on the high altar : " The less you
EARLY ECCLESIASTICAL COMMISSIONS 383
say about that altar the better — I was but a boy when I designed
it ! " Father Pippct's racy northern comment was : " That said
everjrthing to me about the man and the architect. I shall never
meet a man I relished so much."
The long friendship with the Congregation of the Redemp-
torists had its beginning about this time, apparently in the first
instance with Father Robert Coffin — later to occupy the see
of Southwark, but then rector of their community at Clapham —
and secondly with Father Edmund Vaughan, uncle to the Cardinal
of that name. Bentley's first professional connection with the
order was, however, at their house at Bishop Eton, near Liver-
pool, where an altar, reredos, chancel pavement, and tabernacle
perpetuate his memory. The painted altar panels, Westlake's
work, were carried north by Bentley himself, and fixed in the
structure in 1865. Within the next few years designs for altar
frontals, veils, candlesticks, communion rails, a processional cross,
a monstrance, and a pedestal for St. Alphonsus' statue were among
his activities.
St. Mary's, Clapham
The year 1866 marked the beginning of his connection with St.
Mary's, Clapham, a stone Decorated church, built by W, Wardell
in 1852. This architect had designed for it a rood screen of beauti-
ful workmanship which, owing to Italian prejudice against such
features it is said, was when in course of completion taken down
and destroyed. Bentley supervised some painted decoration in the
church and in the priest's private oratory, a room adapted to the
purpose in the two mellow Georgian houses which then served as
monastery. A tabernacle and shrine for the latter followed in
1868. After an interval of ten years, during which he had married
and come to live in the parish, Bentley resumed work in this
chm-ch, the details of which will be found in later chapters.
St. Oswald's, Old Swan
The Bishop Eton altar brought him other commissions in
Lancashire ; witness the Liverpool churches of St. Patrick and
384 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
St. Oswald's, Old Swan, which both possess works by Bentley
dating from 1867 and 1868. At St. Oswald's, built by Pugin in
1842, the high altar was a structure detached from the east wall
to which was affixed a reredos containing seven niches with
statues, our Lord occupying the centre one. The tabernacle, a plain
square box, painted in colours, was without a canopy, while a
crown and veil placed in position before Benediction did duty as a
throne. Under Bentley's direction the recess behind the altar was
filled in, the reredos was divided down the centre and extended
laterally, and a canopied throne placed therein, in place of the
central niche. Angel figures stand on either side of its crocketed
termination. The new tabernacle he designed is a fine piece of
bronze work, set with stones ; the inner side of its door is covered
with a silver plate. Further alterations carried out were the
removal of the screen and rood. The former was placed under
the gallery to act as a screen to the western porch ; the latter,
fixed by Bentley to the wall over the south porch, has since been
brought back to its original position and hangs suspended from
the sanctuary arch.*
St. Patrick's, Liverpool
At St. Patrick's, Liverpool, the Rev. J. Hawksworth was
priest in charge in 1867 ; though it is known that he visited
Bishop Eton in Bentley's company on one occasion, the chances
seem to be in favour of their having become earlier acquainted,
in the days when Mr. Glutton was building St. Mary's Cathedral,
at Douglas, Isle of Man. St. Patrick's Church, a pseudo-classical
structure, a mere preaching temple of the kind then in vogue, was
built by John Slater between 1821-7. Here between the mon-
strous columns of its pretentious Corinthian entablature, Bentley
erected a high altar, with reredos and throne, endeavouring to
produce something to harmonize with an unpromising setting.
' Having failed to discover any correspondence on the subject and being unacquainted
with the church, we are unable to suggest any explanation of Bentley's action in thus
dealing witli Pugin's rood and screen.
EARLY ECCLESIASTICAL COMMISSIONS 385
The altar, built of Staffordshire alabaster, has a painted pieta to
adorn the tomb beneath a mensa supported on marble columns.
The reredos and throne are sculptured in Caen stone, the domed
canopy of the latter being borne on the shoulders of two stand-
ing angels. The four moulded panels of the reredos contain
heads of Abel, Noah, Abraham, and Melchisedech, favourite types
with Bentley at this period, painted, as is the pieta, on slate,
by Westlake. The walls to right and left of the reredos, and the
side walls as far as the great columns, are sheeted with vertical
bands of the Staffordshire alabaster, separated by narrow lines of
green serpentine.
St. Peter's, Doncaster
The same northern visit, planned to coincide with the marriage
festivities of his friend Charles Hadfield at Halifax on January
23rd, 1867, at which he filled the office of " best man," saw
Bentley in Doncaster, where, for the Catholic church of St.
Peter, built by Hadfield & Weightman in 1853, and then under-
going enlargement, he had been requested to design an altar
frontal^ and tabernacle door. Anent this frontal, painted by
Westlake, and the tabernacle door, on which he had lavished a
wealth of pains, he wrote six months later in fiery, youthful
enthusiasm to Charles Hadfield : " The painting is beautiful : indeed
I believe it will take the breath out of your body. The taber-
nacle door will be something worth looking at. The centre is a
sitting figure of our Lord in majesty with one hand raised in bene-
diction, and the other holding a tablet on which is enamelled
' Ego sum via, Veritas et vita.' At the angles are the symbols
of the four evangelists, and intermediately lengthwise, foliage
surrounding the sacred monogram. The whole is in a frame
enriched with precious stones. It will be a blaze of enamel and
gilding. I made the whole of the drawings for it myself, which
took me nearly a week to do, so you can imagine the pains I have
taken with it,"
* Bentley designed a new altar and reredos in 1876 — see Chap. XXIII.
386 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
The Hadfields, father and son, with their long-established
architectural connection, were ever ready to put work in Bentley's
way ; for instance he assisted the latter with certain decorative
details for the G.N.R. Hotel at Leeds in 1865, then a-building,
working at high pressure for several weeks ; and three years
later designed decorative plaster ceilings for the coffee, dining,
waiting rooms and their connecting passages. That in the coffee-
room is more elaborate than the rest, which were simplified to
keep down the cost.
While staying at Sheffield two years previously, the com-
mission to design a house for an Indian knight, Sir Mannockjee
Carsetjee, was offered to Bentley, who generously handed it over
to his friend Purdue, then also staying with the Hadfields. The
designs for a " white house with a red roof " owed, however, a
very great deal to Bentley's assistance ; they were sent to India,
but were not, it is believed, ever carried out.
Among other Yorkshire churches, St. Marie's, Halifax, possesses
a Lady altar by Bentley, a commission obtained for him by the
same good friends. Mr. Charles Hadfield had made the acquaint-
ance of his future wife in this town in 1865 ; together they
advised the priest of the above church, a great friend of hers,
to go to Bentley for the design for the altar, which he imme-
diately did. This small and inexpensive stone altar has a sculp-
tured frontal representing the Annunciation, the Blessed Virgin
being enclosed within one quatrefoil panel and the angel in the
other.
Bentley also lavished immense pains in 1868 on a pulpit
that he was invited to design for a certain CathoUc church in the
West Riding. Unfortunately the authorities disapproved of his
ideas and refused to accept the design, preferring in its place a
hideous Belgian abortion, chosen without consulting the church's
architect. Bentley felt impelled to present and explain his views
on the subject of his pulpit in the following trenchant " apologia "
addressed to the authorities concerned, which makes interesting
reading even at this distance of time :
EARLY ECCLESIASTICAL COMMISSIONS 387
" 14, Southampton Stbeet, Strand,
"March 18th, 1868.
" My Deak Sir,
" I much doubt whether the following objections which
you say have been raised against the pulpit I designed for St.
's Church will hold good : The position of the handrail ;
the nature of the allegory at the angle ; the height of the pulpit,
and the appropriateness of the lion on the ramp. In reply
to which I can only say: (1) That one-third of the staircases
erected have the handrail on the left in ascending and consequently
on the right in descending. (2) That the allegory of St. George
and the Dragon is more complete than that appertaining to St.
Michael, inasmuch as it represents vice being overcome by human
agency, whereas the latter does little more than represent a
spiritual combat and a general suppression of evil. I am quite
aware that my suggestion is merely a Christian rendering of the
classic myths of Apollo and the Python, and Bellerophon and the
Chimaera, but I feel that this can be no objection or there would
be an end to seven-eighths of Christian allegory.
" I admit the height of the pulpit is open to question — not,
mind, that I consider the one under consideration too high ; still
it must be remembered that those executed now are extremely
insignificant. The lion on the ramp is simply a symbol of the
Church. Comparisons are, as you are aware, sometimes carried
too far. I well remember Ruskin comparing the upper part of
the western towers of York Minster to inverted tables ! What
can be more absurd ?
"Always, believe me,
" Most sincerely yours,
" John F. B."
An elaborate high altar commissioned in 1867 for the Catholic
church at Kilcook, Co. Kildare, built by Hague in 1866, was
never carried out. The interesting design bears evidence of the
extreme care bestowed upon it ; but we have not succeeded in
um'avelling the mystery of its rejection.
388 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
Anglican commissions, dating from 1863, opened with three
fonts ordered by Mr. Thomas Law Blane, Mr. Oxley, and Mr. John
Montefiore. Tlie illustrations (Plate XLVII) of the last named,
and that presented by Mr. Blane, lord of the manor, whose
family have been generous benefactors to St. Mary's, Winkfield,
Berks, appeared in the Civil Engineer's and Architect's Journal
on March 1st, 1866.
The Winkfield font, constructed of Caen stone, has a central
shaft in red Mansfield stone, carved entirely with a scrollwork
pattern of Norman type. The four slender polished shafts that
encompass it are of four varieties of marble, Pyrenean green, Irish
green, Derbyshire red spar, and a pink alabaster. Between the
sculptured representations of the evangelists on the bowl are
mosaic inlays representing the Cross flanked by lilies. The in-
scription carved round the top of the bowl reads : " The water
that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up
into everlasting life." Angels bearing vessels symbolic of the
life-giving waters are sculptured between the four supporting
shafts.
Mr. Montefiore's gift to Barbados is thus minutely described in
the above-named journal : " Its base is composed of red Mansfield
stone, octagonal in plan, the cants alternating with the angles of
and intersected by a second plan of the same form, terminating
with a bold moulding which follows the line of the shaft of pohshed
Pyrenean deep green marble, having a cap of Caen stone, effec-
tively carved with conventional apples intended to symbolize
the ' Fall of Man.' The bowl, also of Caen stone, is circular (a
figure of Eternity) richly sculptured, incised with coloured cements,
and interspersed with bosses of Derbyshire red spar, upon grounds
of Irish light green marble. A conventional wave encompassing
the lower part of the bowl, and flatly cut bulrushes in three panels,
are emblematical of the origin of baptism by water in the Jordan ;
three compartments contain busts in alto-relievo, illustrating
three Christian Graces as fruits of spiritual regeneration, treated
biblically and aUegorically thus : Faith by St. John the Divine
EARLY ECCLESIASTICAL COMMISSIONS 389
and a veiled female (' we walk by faith, not by sight ') ; Hope
by the prophet Isaiah and a helmeted female, chained ('putting
on an helmet for the hope of salvation,' ' for the hope of Israel
am I bound with this chain ') ; Charity by St. Stephen the Martyr
and a female wearing a celestial crown (' the greatest of these is
charity ') LTpon the upper bevelled edge of the bowl are incised
the following apostolic exhortations : ' Stand fast in the Faith,'
' Hope to the end,' ' Have fervent Charity.' The oak cover,
chromo-relieved and slightly gilded, is likewise of Norman transi-
tional style, and constructed light enough to be easily lifted by
the hand : it commences on a circular plan, from which springs
an octagon, whose moulded ribs converge at a centre post ; and
on traceried splays is inscribed the sacramental truth, ' By One
Spirit are we all baptized into one Body.' A feature of embattle-
ments and a cruciform finial speak symbolically of ' Christ's
faithful soldier ' in the Church Militant, and of the token in ' the
Sign of the Cross.' " The writer is informed by a daughter of
the donor that the choice of subjects and ideas was Mr. Monte-
fiore's, while the material and design were wholly confided to
Bentley's taste.
Barbados possesses another example of Bentley's invention —
which we include, though not strictly speaking in place here,
since practically no opportunity in the matter of public works
came his way. We refer to the drinking fountain presented to
the town of Bridgetown by Mr. Montefiore in 1864. " It is 24 ft.
high, and mainly composed of Portland stone, the basin being
of Derbyshire grey bird's-eye marble, the columns of Cornish
green serpentine, and the spirelet of Whitehaven red stone, with
a corona in Portland. On a bronze plate surrounding the water
jet is an exhortation from Bishop Ken's doxology, ' Praise God
from whom all blessings flow.' The spaces between the columns,
the quatrefoil panels and cornice are inlaid with Minton's and
Maw's encaustic and glazed tiles in harmoniously varied colours ;
the bosses in the spandrels being of opaque green glass. A
delicately carved string-course of diaper pattern runs beneath
390 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
the weathering of the octagonal spirelet, the cants of the lower
portion of which are slightly splayed inwards to enhance the
effect of chiaroscuro. Water-plants, melon, and pineapple are
conventionally represented in richly sculptured capitals and
finials ; allegorical figures, in alto-relievo, of the cardinal virtues
ornament the cusped tympana in the canopy, having gilded back-
grounds; and additional interest is given to the symbolism by
familiar maxims (incised in Gothic lettering) from the Bible, as
well as from the poets Shakespeare and Campbell. Thus, for
Temperance (on front of the fountain), ' Be sober-minded ' —
temperate in all things ; for Prudence, ' Look to the end ' —
weighing results ; for Justice, ' Do wrong to none ' ; for Fortitude,
' To bear is to conquer.' Within an incised band of decoration
encompassing the base is stated that ' For the benefit of thirsty
wayfarers this drinking fountain was presented to the city of
Bridgetown in the year 1864.' " ^
Mr. Montefiore, then residing in Christ Church Road, Streatham,
became a benefactor also to that parish. Christ Church possesses
a pulpit and reading desk, designed by Bentley in 1864, besides
stained glass of this period (dealt with in another place) and a
font cover and altar cross of later dates.
Among commissions, probably Anglican, merely mentioned in
the diaries of 1864-5, and of which no further details have been
discovered, must be recorded an altar for Miss Nugent at Bath
and a pulpit at Scarborough.
St. Mary's, Collaton
It was through the Montefiores' introduction that Bentley
came to design a reredos, font, and some window glass for the
church of St. Mary the Virgin, Collaton, Devon, built by the Rev.
John Roughton Hogg in 1865. This reredos (Plate XLVIII)
of Caen stone, to the memory of the founder, was the gift of Miss
Durant and several others of his friends. A remarkable piece of
' Illustrated London News, December 2nd, 1865.
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EARLY ECCLESIASTICAL COMMISSIONS 391
work and evidence that he was akeady turning to Enghsh late
thirteenth-century types of design, it consists of a fine groined
canopy with panels of Irish green marble, the side panels and
buttresses being enriched with carving in diaper and the former
surmounted by emblems, the Agnus Dei and the Pelican. These
buttresses support lofty crocketed pinnacles. Beneath the canopy
the subject of the Last Supper, carved in alto-relievo and treated
in a manner worthy of the traditions of the great Leonardo, was
the work of Theodore Phyffers.
The wall arcading, also of Caen stone, on each side of the altar
and returning north and south of the chancel, springs from plinths
of yellow Mansfield stone, and contains large panels of polished
red Staffordshire alabaster, between which are angels standing
on the caps of the intervening shafts. A cornice of foliage and
fruit elaborately carved surmounts the whole design.
The font, also the gift of Miss Durant in 186G, is ap-
proached by three steps of Portland stone, inlaid with rich
encaustic tiles placed at intervals. The predella, the accurate
carving of which deserves notice, has a memorial inscription
on the top in tiles. On this stands the base of Mansfield stone,
and from thence rise five columns of polished Pyrenean and
other marbles, with carved caps to correspond with the base.
The bowl, of English alabaster, is of an irregularly octagonal
form, the lower part carved with fruit and leaves emblematic of
the Fall ; the four wider sides are inlaid with symbolical designs
in a mosaic of Carrara, Siena, Griotte, Pyrenean and other
marbles and Salviati's gold glass. The four narrower sides of the
bowl are deeply recessed to contain full-length figures in alto-
relievo of St. John the Baptist, clad in a camel-hair garment and
bearing his emblem, the Agnus Dei ; of St. Peter (after whose
sermon on the day of Pentecost the 3,000 were baptized) with his
emblems, the Keys and book ; of St. Stephen, the first baptized
in blood, wearing his deacon's dress and carrying a stone and the
martyr's palm ; of St. Paul, the apostle of the Gentiles, with his
emblems, the book and sword. Upon the upper moulding of and
392 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
encompassing the bowl is incised, in Parian black cement, the
text, " Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit he cannot
enter into the kingdom of God." On the cover, of English oak
and Italian walnut used in combination, is carved the Old Testa-
ment type of baptism in the text " The Spirit of God moved upon
the face of the waters." The cover is built in the shape of a tower
rising to a point in two stages and is richly moulded, traceried,
and buttressed ; it is surmounted by a finial representing the
Dove, preceded by heavenly rays, descending.
St. Augustine's, Northbourne
In the first month of 1865 a clergyman of the name of
Hannam called at Bentley's office to invite him to design a reredos
for the parish church of Northbourne, near Walmer, Kent. This
gentleman was the envoy and a relative of the late Mrs. Hannam,
who then desired to erect this reredos as a memorial to her husband.
The church, a cruciform aisleless structure of Norman and Early
English origin, and having a square tower at the crossing, was in
need of some reparation, which Bentley also undertook. His
diary records renovations to the roof, sedilia,^ and piscina, the
designing of a new pavement to the chancel, and some communion
rails, besides the above-mentioned reredos. The latter, occupying
the entire width of the arch in the east wall, is constructed in
various marbles of rich colouring, with a central canopied com-
partment to contain the altar cross.
Right and left within four sunk panels enclosing lozenge-
shaped mouldings are sculptured in relief the devices of the
evangelists, which, curiously, have been placed in the wrong
order. It is difficult to understand how this could have hap-
pened, for even if Bentley never saw the reredos in situ — which
is just possible — it is inconceivable, knowing his methods, that it
could have been allowed to leave the sculptor's workshop without
^ A wide flattish arch on the south aide of tlie chancel, contaiiiing space sufficient
to seat tliree priests, but undivided.
EARLY ECCLESIASTICAL COMMISSIONS 393
passing the test of his severely critical inspection. Besides, the
incumbent would, one imagines, have pointed out such an error
and had it rectified while the masons were yet in the church.
May 14th, 1868, a red-letter day in Bentley's diary, marked
the dawning of a new era of hope and prosperity ; Cardinal
Manning summoned him to discuss the proposed new Seminary at
Hammersmith. The struggling years were breasted, and the
tide of fortune had turned at last. He wrote immediately to
inform Charles Hadfield, ever the first to hear of such happy
events :
"14, Southampton Street, Strand,
"May 18th, 1868.
" Dear Charles,
..." What with several wretched trifles, which are giving
me no end of bother, and another matter which I trust will turn
the tide of fortune, I have been sorely harassed. . . . You will be
glad to hear the Archbishop has given me the Seminary for the
Diocese to do. From what I hear it will cost £30,000, although
probably only a portion will be proceeded with at once. In terrific
haste,
" Ever most sincerely yours,
" John F. B."
But a guarded reply to his friend's words of congratulation
showed how little he was at heart inclined, after hopes so long
deferred, to put faith in the constancy of fortune's smile : " Many
thanks for your kind wishes and sentiments. I with you trust a
turning-point has set in, but I must not be too sanguine, lest disap-
pointment follow . . ." and anent other new building projects
then thrilling the architectural world he trenchantly continued :
" I have seen the original drawings for the Manchester Town Hall
competition at the Architectural Exhibition, therefore I did not
judge of them from the insipid renderings in the Building News.
The central composition of Speakman & Charlesworth's design
is simply a prig from the entrance portion of Burges' Law Courts^
394 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
and a very bad one too. Indeed a more trashy affair I have not
seen for a long time. In my opinion Waterhouse's is a long way
in advance. I am exceedingly glad that Street is to do the new
Palace of Justice."
What with the Seminary drawings, the additions to St. Mary
of the Angels, Bayswater, a number of commissions for stained
glass windows, certain domestic works and assistance rendered to
his old friend E. L. Blackburne in respect of the competition
drawings for some church, Bentley's days were now fuUy occupied,
and he felt justified in making a move into more commodious
quarters. The inconvenience of those at 14, Southampton Street
had impelled him more than once in the past six years to search
for something better ; indeed, once he had considered the advis-
ability of taking a set of rooms in New Court, Temple. Finally,
however, in a house built by the Adam brothers in the Adelphi
in which Edmund Burke once dwelt, a congenial suite was dis-
covered, and at 13, John Street, he took up his abode towards
the end of July 1868. A letter to Charles Hadfield announced
the fact : " You will notice from the heading that I have left
the old place in Southampton Street ; wretched and inconvenient
as it was, a lot of pleasant bygones came crowding into my mind,
and I turned the door on the last piece of furniture with regret."
CHAPTER XVII
ecclesiastical architecture (l)
Parish Churches
Limitations of Bentley's opportunities in church building — St. Mary's, Cadogan Street —
Our Lady of the Holy Souls, Kensal New Town — Corpus Christi, Brixton — Holy
Rood, Watford — St. Luke's, Chiddingstone Causeway — Churches designed but not
built.
A REVIEW of Bentley's life reveals the fact, astounding in view
both of his exceptional knowledge and talent as an ecclesiologist
and of the host of his clerical friends, that his opportunities of
church building were exceptionally few and limited, in a practice
of upwards of forty years. It seems well nigh incredible that in
this chapter we have but five churches to chronicle, four Catholic
and one Anglican, erected between the years 1877 and 1898. Ex-
cluded, of course, from this list are chapels forming part of domestic
buildings and the alteration and enlargement of existing churches.
The explanation of this neglect is to be found, we think, in a
variety of causes. In the first place, at the moment that Bentley
entered the profession, having just changed his religious faith,
the material encouragement exerted by the Catholic Church in
England on the Gothic revival was waning ; important and
costly churches, such as many of those erected by Pugin, Had-
field & Weightman, Scoles and others of their contemporaries
in the previous thirty years, had depleted the purses of the charit-
able, while the great inrush of Irish emigrants in the years suc-
ceeding the famine was then rendering of obligation the founda-
tion of numerous new missions and the building of a multitude
of small and cheap churches. Added to this was Cardinal Wise-
man's and Dr. Manning's known preference for the modern classical
Roman style. Bentley became known as a Gothicist, whose
395
396 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
designs, however simple, were not of the sort to lend themselves
to hasty and crude craftsmanship ; indeed, such he would never
tolerate. Thus the reputation of being an " expensive man "
to be avoided by parish priests forced to make cheapness their
first desideratum was soon acquired. The third reason is to be
found in his objection to architectural competitions coupled with
an aversion to any form of self-advertisement. Never was he
known to solicit a commission or even, we believe, to raise a
finger to make interest for himself. The work that came to him
was a spontaneous offering, and any that could not be under-
taken with fidelity and credit to guiding principles was incon-
tinently refused.
We find, therefore, that he built but one church in the second
decade of his practice, three in the third, and one in the fourth,
all under the influence of a well-defined chronological progression
of Gothic style. But in this last period he was engaged also on
his magnum opus, W^estminster Cathedral, and on what might,
had Fate been kinder, have ranked equally with it, the designs for
a splendid Decorated Gothic cathedral for Brooklyn, U.S.A.,
unhappily frustrated by his untimely death.
(1) St. Mary's, Cadogan Street
First in point of time ranks the church of St. Mary, Cadogan
Street, Chelsea. We have seen in the last chapter that Bentlcy early
designed a high altar and pulpit for the small so-called classical
chapel which had served this district since 1812. The mission
owed its existence to the zeal of the Abbe Voyaux de Fraynons,
an emigrant French priest who built this little church principally
for the benefit of the Catholic pensioners at Chelsea Hospital.
Numbers of these had been invalided home from the Napoleonic
wars ; but it was necessary to obtain special permission from the
commander-in-chief before those who were Catholics might attend
the services provided by the good Abbe. The desired permit
being obtained, the pensioners were allowed for the first time to
attend the rites of their faith.
Plate XLIX.— Hanging Rood, S. Mabv's, Cadogan Street.
PARISH CHURCHES 397
In the three succeeding decades the district developed, and
the Catholic population so greatly increased, that in 1845, to meet
its greater needs, Mr. Knight, the eminent botanist of Chelsea,
was moved to purchase an ample site on the opposite side of
Cadogan Street, on which at his own cost he erected a large block
of educational and religious buildings ; namely, a convent for the
Sisters of Mercy, a Home for the Christian Brothers, and some
elementary schools to be managed by these two communities.
Space for a new and larger church was reserved on the corner of
the site abutting on Cadogan Street and Draycott Terrace ; while
the back part of the vacant land was put into use as a cemetery
until its closure some years later by order of the Home Secretary.
Thirty years after, the church site was still vacant, and the
lease of the old chapel drawing near to expiration. Canon Mac-
Mullen, missionary rector of the parish, decided that the new
buildirg must be undertaken forthwith, and Bentley, crowned
with the fresh laurels of his successful and beautiful Seminary at
Hammersmith, was in 1875 entrusted with the commission to
prepare plans for the new church and presbytery. The founda-
tion stone was laid with due ceremony and pomp by Cardinal
Manning on July 12th, 1877, who twenty-two months later, on
May 1st, 1879, blessed and opened the building for divine worship.
Economy was, as usual, a cruelly governing consideration ;
the architect being desired to produce the biggest and roomiest
church possible, with a seating capacity of 1,000, for a strictly
limited sum. Released by now completely from Gallic thrall, he
made choice of the Early English style, and planned a church with
an extremely simple exterior, to be carried out with facings of
white stock bricks, red tiles, and a sparing use of stone for the dress-
ings. But simple as these drawings were, it was thought necessary
to reduce the cost yet further : a new set of plans was ordered
in which certain decorative details were to be simplified or excluded ;
to take one example, the extreme narrowness of the lancets of
the east end is due to this departure from the original design.
The external brick and stone work of St. Mary's has been
II— 5
398 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
severely dealt with by time and London atmosphere ; it has taken
on a sad dinginess and suffers, moreover, by contrast with the bold
and overbearing redness of the new blocks of flats which now tower
over the church on several aspects. But enter the edifice, and this
depressing impression is instantly dispelled. Within all is light
and dignity, a fair and gracious conception of simple detail allied to
fine proportion, materialized in stone. It measures 125 ft. long by
57 ft. wide, and consists of nave, north and south aisles, chancel,
north transept, three side chapels, baptistery, and porch.
Fig. 33. — St. Maby's, Chelsea: Ground Plan (1877).
The nave dimensions are 82 ft. long, 27 ft. wide, 55 ft. high
internally from the floor to the underside of the ridge of the roof
and 63 ft. high to the outer ridge. It consists of an arcade of four
bays on each side, 23 ft. high to the apices of the arch soffits and
16 ft. 10 in. from centre to centre of its columns, which are elongated
octagons in plan, with a slightly pointed shaft running up the nave
facets through the clerestory to carry the principals of the roof.
The nave roof, waggon-headed in form, is ceiled between the
rafters, which are painted a dull bluish green, a favourite hue
of Bentley's, in effective contrast to the white interspaces.
The sanctuary, 35 ft. long and 23 ft. 10 in. wide, is raised
PARISH CHURCHES 399
three steps, or about 18 inches, above the nave floor ; 52 ft. is the
height from the chancel floor to the underside of the apex of its
roof, which is varied by being composed of a series of cants, the
springing ones being stilted. At each principal is a simple tie-
beam, suspended in the centre by an iron ring ; the principal
ribs are framed above and below the tie-beams, which latter
intersect the ribs above the springing. The chancel rejoices, as
is fitting, in a character more ornate than the body of the church,
and is completely faced with Corsham Down ashlar.
The eastern wall is pierced with the four very narrow lancets
already mentioned, while beneath them runs a screened triforium,
access to which is obtained by a small turret at the north-eastern
angle of the gable. The passage or gallery is formed within the
thickness of the wall, the inner face being relieved by a beau-
tiful open screen forming four cusped lights under three arches
with traceried heads. Below this open screen and above the
reredos, the wall space is broken up by arcaded mouldings,
which continue round the sides of the sanctuary. The sculp-
tured traceried reredos, of curvilinear style (though without
colour), forms a fine background to the high altar (already
described in Chapter XVI) which was designed by Bentley for the
old church some dozen years earlier (Plate L).
The sides of the reredos and the return walls of the sacrarium
are adorned by a canopied arcading. The reredos cornice is
enriched with sculptured leafage, and angel heads form the corbels
at the termination of the labels in the sanctuary. It has been
justly remarked that all this sculpture (executed by McCarthy),
including also the foliage of the caps and the pendent shafts
supporting the roof ribs, is exceptionally fine in expression and
devoid of the coarse effect so often seen in modern churches.
Behind the high altar a narrow passage or ambulatory leads
from the chantry chapel on the south side of the chancel to the
Lady Chapel on the north, and gives access to the staircase of the
triforium gallery at the east end. At the north-west comer of the
sanctuary is an octagonal bell turret.
400 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
The nave aisles, 15 ft. wide between piers and wall, are roofed
in a series of cants, three in number, treated similarly to those of
the sanctuary, the lowest one being the broadest. The north
transept corresponds with the easternmost bay of the nave, and
is very shallow, scarcely deeper than the width of the aisle. Ad-
joining this the Lady Chapel forms the north aisle of the chancel,
and is illumined by a pair of two-light windows on the north
side and a traceried window of three lights at the east end.
The entrance to the church in daily use is a side door with a
spacious porch taken out of the north aisle. The only other
entrance is the principal one at the west end.
Opposite the north porch is the baptistery, a distinct gabled
erection at the end of the south aisle, opening into the church by
a double archway. The chantry chapel, dedicated to St. John,
forming the south aisle of the chancel, is the pre-existing mor-
tuary chapel, built many years earlier, which Bentley retained
to incorporate it cleverly in the plan of his church. Abutting
on the chantry is an ingeniously contrived organ chamber, enclosed
with a finely traceried screen. The east window here is also filled
with stained glass, not from Bentley's hand.
Opening out of the south aisle, west of the chantry, is
the Blessed Sacrament Chapel, also in part an excrescence from
the older building. It is under a separate roof, the interior being
groined in stone, and is lighted by three traceried triangular
windows with stained glass emblematic of the Holy Eucharist.
It contains a roomy confessional in three compartments, each with
its separate door ; two similar ones are placed in each aisle. The
spacious sacristy, with heating chamber beneath it, adjoins this
chapel and unites the church to the clergy house. It should be
observed that the church is incomplete, the spire shown in the
drawing on the north side of the western elevation having been
left unfinished at a height of 55 ft. Its total height should be
106 ft. to the top of the finial, and as the church suffers in
appearance from the omission, it is to be hoped that it may in
the near future be remedied by the completion of this structure.
Plate L.-S. JIaby's, Cadogax St. : Interior, showing Pui^it and High Ai,tab designed
FOR THE Earlier Church.
(Pholo, Cyril EUis.)
Plate LI. — Church of Oub Lady of the Holy Souls, Keksal: Nave and Rood Screen.
[401
PARISH CHURCHES 401
The main fenestration comprises the lofty east window of four
lights, its stained glass, the gift of Mrs. Townley in 1879, being
executed from Bentley's sketches by Lavers, Barraud & Westlake ;
a west window consisting of four lancets of equal height, while
the clerestory of the chancel has five lancet lights on either side
and that of the nave eight, arranged in pairs. The tracery and
mullions of the east window are of Hopton Wood stone.
With the exception of the Stoke Ground stone used for the
piers, the masonry, both in and out, is carried out in Corsham
Down, the internal walls of the nave and sanctuary being lined
with ashlar. The walls of the aisles, the chantry chapel, and
St. Joseph's Chapel are finished with plaster.
The high altar and pulpit designed by Bentley in 1863-4 were
removed to the new church on its completion. To the former was
added by Osmond Bentley in 1904 a canopied throne of wood, carved,
painted, and gilt, with a pierced and crocketcd spire, carried out
from a design made by his father several years before his death.
In 1894 Bentley designed a very lovely canopied shrine for
the statue of our Lady. Its base and pedestal are of pale green
and white marble, arranged in alternating horizontal bands, with
a pair of spirally moulded shafts to support the upper circular
portion. The canopy, of wood, carved, pierced, painted, and gilt,
is exceedingly fine and rich in conception and execution. The
original drawing is reproduced in Plate XCIV.
The architect's last addition to the furnishing of this church was
the great hanging rood, suspended from the sanctuary arch, which
was in process of execution at the time of his death. A repro-
duction of the coloured drawing, with its symbohsm of the royally
robed, crowned and triumphant Redeemer is given in Plate XLIX.
In the presbytery, a two-storeyed dwelling of the same materials
as the church, with a frontage to Draycott Terrace, built in
1879 at a cost of close on £2,750, ample accommodation is pro-
vided for the clerical staff. On the church was expended about
£10,000,^ a sum raised by the generosity and self-sacrifice of the
• Original contract signed June 1877 for £7,989.
402 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
rector, Canon MacMullen, who managed to collect all but £500 of
it before the date of the opening. The Chelsea veterans for
whose special benefit the earlier church was planned responded
valiantly to the appeal. One, for example, from his slender
store gave £10 ; another bequeathed £160, all his savings, to the
building fund ; worthy records of piety and generosity to be kept
in everlasting remembrance.
(2) Our Lady of the Holy Souls, Kensal New Town
The foundation stone of Bentley's second church, dedicated
as above on account of its proximity to the Catholic cemetery,
was laid on May 24th, 1881, by Cardinal Manning. We have
sketched in the preceding chapter something of the events that
led up to its erection, in the history of the work of the Oblate
Fathers in West London, related on account of its intimate con-
nection with the first decade of Bentley's architectural practice.
For a short time the priests in charge of this poor and populous
parish had combined religious and educational work under the
roof of the red brick school building designed and erected by the
late Mr. S. J. Nicholl in 1872 ^ ; but speedily the parishioners out-
grew the accommodation, and funds not being available then for
church building, Bentley was asked in 1873 to provide a tem-
porary iron structure on the vacant land adjoining the schools.
This served its purpose for seven years. Towards the close of
1880 he was invited by the Rev. C. J. Keens, who had succeeded
Father Kirk in the care of the mission, to design a permanent
church, to be of necessity a plain building with a seating
capacity of not less than 500. Space being limited, it was
necessary to utilize every inch of the ground and to avoid as far
as possible all buttresses and projections.
The Oblates requisitioned a plain church of Roman type on
the following lines of memoranda to the architect, whose success
in diverting them altogether from their original purpose is revealed
by the plans, photographs, and description of the finished building.
' Now condemned by the authorities and closed.
■wr wu^]
Fios. 34 4.ND 35. — Chuboh of Ons Lady of the Holv Souxs, Kbnsal: GBOtrnD Plan and
LONOITUDINAL SECTION (1881).
404 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
Mems. for the New Church of St. Mary of the Holy Souls
1. It must be strictly Roman, without pointed arches or
stained windows.
2. To be built of stock bricks without any stone facings or
carvings.
3. The contract for the first portion of the work not to exceed
£1,200.
4. The arrangement for the organ and choir to be on the
Gospel side of the high altar.
5. All the windows to be high up. The lower portions of the
walls to be reserved for the mortuary marble tablets, Stations of
the Cross, etc.
Bentley's design, in Early English style, was for a building
to cost between £4,000 and £5,000, 150 ft. long by 55 ft. wide, to
occupy the entire length of the site, an irregular parallelogram
lying at the angle of Bosworth Road and Hazlewood Crescent.
The plan comprises a spacious nave with very narrow aisles, a
chancel and one side chapel. Nave and chancel are under a con-
tinuous roof, divided into nine bays, three of which are allotted
to the chancel. Exteriorly it is a pleasing combination of red brick
with Bath stone dressings, the roofs being slated with " Sedan
Green Ladies." Only the west and south elevations and the
east gable are visible from the street.
The west facade in Bosworth Road has a noble entrance
opening into what was intended to be a merely temporary wooden
porch.' Unfortunately it has never been found possible to com-
plete the church as regards this and other secondary matters
allowed to stand over for lack of funds at the time of erection.
Over this doorway, certain details of which remain yet un-
sculpturcd, the wall is pierced with a triplet of lancet windows
between octagonal buttresses, very effective features, rising to a
great height and connecting the middle stage with the gable ; on
the right rises a bell turret, capped with a spirclet, which com-
• Father Rawes desired an estimate for the porch in 1883, but ultimately decided
not to have it done.
PARISH CHURCHES 405
pletes the facade. In the topmost stage, between the octagonal
buttresses, the wall is further pierced by three tiny lancets. From
the stone string at the point of springing of these buttresses emerge
two bold lion's-head corbels with leafage.
On the south the treatment is kept very broad, the organ
loft forming a kind of transeptal arrangement relieving the long
but pleasing line of clerestory windows. On this elevation there
is a lesser entrance to the church and sacristy. The arrangement
of horizontal stone banding alternating with brick courses in the
uppermost stages of this "transept" and porch strikes a cheerful
and beautiful note in the church's squalid environment. Another
happy feature is the baptistery window at the west end of the south
aisle, a pair of cinquefoil-cusped lancets within a shouldered arch.
The south porch is arranged beneath the organ tribune, over-
looking the sanctuary, and opens therefore upon that end of the
south aisle. Both aisles with sloping roofs are really little more
than passages for processional purposes, etc., the idea being that
the widest possible nave would prove an economy of space and
be more effective for congregational uses. The nave, 75 ft. long
and 32 ft. broad, and 45 ft. high from the floor to the inner crown
of the waggon-headed roof and 60 ft. high to the outer ridge,
consists therefore of an arcade of six bays. The piers, of Bath
stone, are formed with engaged clustered shafts, the height to
the apex of the arch soffit being 14 ft. 6 in., and the width from
the centre of each pier to the next 12 ft.
The chancel, 32 ft. wide by 41 ft. deep, has an effective feature
in the geometric window of four cinquef oil- headed lights which
pierces its north and south walls on the ground floor stage. One
illuminates the porch, while that opposite has two blind arcades ;
the remaining pair give light to the chapel of the Holy Ghost.
The sanctuary has been rather spoiled by the subsequent ad-
vancement of the organ gallery several feet beyond the limits
planned by the architect (Plate LI).
There is no east window, but the whole of this wall is covered
by a reredos of wood, carved, painted, and gilt, 50 ft. high and 30 ft.
406 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
broad. It is of early Tudor style, designed by the Rev. Arnold S.
Baker, for thirty-one years rector of the church, who, assisted by
certain friends, carried out the whole of the subject-paintings
with which the panels are filled. One, the Adoration of the
Magi, is copied from that in Cologne Cathedral. The rood screen
of similar design and execution is also Father Baker's work;
indeed, Bentley had nothing to do with any of the decorations.
He built the church, provided temporary fittings, such as altars,
confessionals, and seating for the opening, and there his con-
nection with it ended.
Father Baker was unable to commission Bentley to design
the reredos on account of the extreme poverty of the church and
district, wliich, said he, is in such an out-of-the-way part of London
that hardly any one with any artistic appreciation ever came near
it, excepting Mr. Brewer and Mr. Everard Green (now Somerset
Herald), who both took a special interest. He added that he
believed Bentley intended the church to have a rood screen, which
seems likely to be the case, since he introduced this feature
wherever possible. The church walls were painted by one of
Mr. George Bodley's men, thrown out of work when he died.
We have seen that the baptistery occupies a position equal
to the westernmost bay of the nave at the end of the south aisle,
and that the chapel dedicated to the Holy Ghost is the eastward
termination of the north aisle. Herein are a wooden altar and
triptych designed by Bentley and painted, as regards the subjects
in the panels, by Mr. Stacey of St. John's Wood. No money
being forthcoming, Father Baker painted and gilded the remainder
himself, following his directions. The same was the case with the
pulpit, designed by Bentley in 1886, and being more or less of a
temporary nature. The sacristy and heating chamber are arranged
beyond the Holy Ghost Chapel. In the wall of this aisle are four
arcaded recesses, two of which contain side altars and two con-
fessional boxes. The adjoining doorway was the means of com-
munication with the disused school building.
The cliurch is abundantly illuminated by means of the three tall
PARISH CHURCHES 407
lancets of the west end (now covered, as the hght was found to be
too strong), and by the coupled clerestory lancets, with cinquefoil
cusping. There is no stained glass. The walls are plastered through-
out, and the dressings are of Bath stone. The wooden ceiling
was intended to be painted and decorated as funds permitted.
The church was opened on April 13th, 1882, less than a year
from the date of the first stone-laying. As Father Kirk has
remarked, " Like all Mr. Bentley's works, however simple and
plain, its outlines were graceful and pleasing to the eyes, and, what
is more important, it was exactly adapted to the purpose for
which it was intended." '
(3) Corpus Christi Church, Brixton Hill
Before placing on record the first opportunity of importance
afforded to Bentley to display his genius as a church builder, it will,
we think, be desirable and indeed necessary to preface it with a
brief historical summary of the Brixton mission prior to 1886, for
the reason that thus we shall best explain the architect's idea in
planning on so generous a scale a building of which in thirty years
it has been found possible to erect so relatively small a portion.
Before 1881 there was no Catholic church in Brixton, whose
small band of faithful, numbering but seventy-five, were forced
to betake themselves far afield to attend church either in Camber-
well or Clapham. To the Rev. Hendrik van Doorne, a priest of
Flemish nationality long domiciled in England, and assistant
to Canon McGrath in the Camberwell mission, was entrusted in
October 1880 the spiritual care of what was recognized to be a
fast developing neighbourhood. The prevision was justified, for
in the next six years the Catholic population within the new
parish boundaries leaped from 75 to 1,000 souls. Brixton was the
tenth Catholic district to be taken out of the old mission of St.
George's, Southwark.
As soon as the priest had met his new parishioners, various
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410 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
sites were suggested and offered for the projected church and
schools. The late Mr. James Weale, F.S.A., the learned antiquarian
and authority on Flemish art, an intimate friend of Father van
Doorne's, and among those who took a warm interest in the pro-
ject from the beginning, bestirred himself to find a suitable site.
In February 1881, a committee of seven men of means and business
capacity was formed to assist and advise their rector, the names
of these founders of the mission being Joseph Canale, John Conway
(secretary), John Dermody (assistant secretary), Richard Fallon
(chairman), Robert Measures, Eugene Niall, and George Taylor.
Father van Doorne was constituted treasurer, and each individual
member of the committee was requested to inquire in the neigh-
bourhood for suitable properties available for the purpose of
church building.
Many houses and sites were inspected and rejected before in
March a suitable spot on the main thoroughfare was discovered.
This, a freehold house with coachhouse and stable, and a good
garden, was known as 4, Gwydyr Houses, situated on the north
side of Brixton Road between Lambert Road and Hayter Road,
and was to be sold by auction the following month. The priest at
once called on Bentley, who — being acquainted with the site,
which he estimated roughly at something under an acre and
worth probably between £4,000 and £4,500, and equally aware of
the religious prejudice then a factor to be reckoned with in Brixton
— advised him to keep secret his intention with regard to the land
in case this prejudice might be exerted in hostile fashion to prevent
its acquisition.
Since the diocesan authorities made it abundantly clear that
to them Father van Doorne must not look for financial assist-
ance in purchasing so costly a site, he resolved to bear the entire
burden of this initial expense himself, and having found the
money, in due course became the owner of the coveted property,
without sectarian opposition, for the reasonable price of £2,610.
It transpired later, as Bentley had shrewdly guessed, that Father
van Doorne would never have succeeded had the purpose for
PARISH CHURCHES 411
which he required the land became known in the neighbour-
hood.
In the house, re-named Corpus Christi House, a room was set
apart and prepared as a temporary chapel, the first Mass being
said on Friday, June 3rd, 1881, though the following Sunday,
Whit Sunday, was the solemn opening day of the mission. A
church building fund was opened in the ensuing November, the
parish being for the purpose divided into four portions, and sub-
jected to a monthly canvass for subscriptions by the gentlemen of
the committee, approved by the parishioners, who were now
estimated to number about 500. A minimum of success resulting
from these efforts, Father van Doorne decided to turn the
work over to the ladies of his parish, and an artist, the late Mr.
Philip Westlake, designed collecting cards for their use. From
time to time the building fund was increased by parish enter-
tainments and concerts, the women being responsible, as Father
van Doorne acknowledged, for quite nine-tenths of the work
accomplished. Bishop Coffin, C.S.S.R., who had succeeded Dr.
Danell as Bishop of Southwark, gave £50 in 1883 towards the
fund, though he warned the rector that they would probably come
to grief when the question of building was ripe for discussion,
for, said he, " You will insist on building a Gothic church, and I
will prevent you."
By Christmas 1883, Father van Doorne had a nest egg of £1,000
in hand, and on October 22nd, 1884, ventured to consult
Bentley about a plan, suggesting to the architect the feasi-
bility of building a portion of a church at the back of the house
" of such nature and proportions that it would be a beginning
and lasting part of a whole plan." Bentley fell in with the idea,
and advised beginning with a chancel and part of the nave, start-
ing the building at a distance of 120 ft. from the back wall,which
would leave about 250 ft. This work, he estimated, should cost
not more than £4,000, on plans which when carried out in entirety,
including schools, would absorb some £20,000. Light and air diffi-
culties were first to be overcome, however, and in the face of the
412 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
adverse opinion of two counsel, Father van Doorne feared to push
ahead with the building, as Bentley considered he safely might.
The architect, as ever perfectly disinterested, though his client
seemed at one time to doubt this, then suggested the advisa-
bility of buying Bethel House (a building with ground before and
behind it situated between Trent Road and Horsford Road),
and letting the neighbouring convent of Notre Dame take over
their present property, a project to which Father van Doorne did
not take at all kindly.
Bishop Coffin died on April 6th, 1885 ; from his future suc-
cessor. Dr. Butt, then Vicar-General, permission was readily
obtained to build a large Gothic church, beginning with a portion
limited in size to the barest necessity ; the new authority also
agreed to the change of site, should it prove preferable. Bentley
continued to urge his point, and was eventually authorized to
take steps towards acquiring Bethel House at a price not to
exceed £3,300. At the same time it was to be ascertained whether
the nuns were in earnest about piirchasing Corpus Christi House ;
which proving to be the case, the price of £3,400 was agreed
upon between the solicitors on both sides. Ultimately Mr.
Cobbledick, the owner of Bethel House, agreeing to part with
it for £3,550 (he had for some time stood out for £3,700), it was
arranged that this new property should pass into the hands
of the diocesan authorities. Father van Doorne taking a mort-
gage on it of £2,500, but charging no interest as long as he remained
resident priest at Corpus Christi Mission.
Bishop Butt gave further encouragement to the building
project by consenting to lay the first stone and by accepting
Bentley as architect, though he took exception to the proposed
rood screen shown in the plans, on the ground that it would
hide the altar from the congregation. On August 8th Father
van Doorne received the keys of Bethel House, into which he
moved, in spite of its dilapidated condition, five days later,
while the architect put in hand for him the repairs immediately
necessary.
PARISH CHURCHES 413
The invested building fund was standing at something over
£2,000, when in December 1885 it was unexpectedly doubled by the
welcome information from the bishop that a Mrs. Challis, late of
Brixton, had some years previously bequeathed to the diocese the
sum of £2,000 to be devoted towards a Catholic church at Brixton,
and that he was prepared to give the parish the benefit of this
money at once. Meeting the architect on the site on January 19th,
1886, he begged him to proceed with all speed, that the foundation
stone might be laid before Easter. It was further arranged that
the sanctuary should be the first part built, at an estimated
cost of £4,000, and that if this limit were not overstepped, it
might be possible to continue with the transepts at a further
outlay of £2,000.
Bentley's plans were ready in April — " simply magnificent,"
wrote Father van Doorne enthusiastically, but the estimated cost
of the sanctuary alone amounted to £5,365 ! ^ The bishop saw and
approved, however, and the contract was signed by Laurenson &
Son on April 19th, 1886. The foundation stone was laid on June
14th at 4 o'clock in the afternoon by Dr. Butt ; many delays and
disappointments had preceded this happy event, due largely to
unsatisfactory conditions discovered in the site at certain spots
which necessitated deeper excavations than had been anticipated.
Once these difficulties were vanquished, the building made rapid
progress ; and in September the architect brought to Father
van Doorne's notice eight cogent arguments for proceeding at
once to build the second portion of the chiirch. Briefly these
reasons were as follows :
(1) The temporary wall of present western gable would be
saved.
(2) The builder's second contract would be reduced on account
of not having to bring his plant on the site, all that he would
require being already there.
(3) The builder being anxious to continue, would contract
at the lowest possible figure.
^ The cost of the whole structure was to be £12,000.
II— 6
414 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
(4) It would avoid the worry and inconvenience of beginning
building again.
(5) It would at once provide accommodation that will be wanted
almost immediately.
(6) The money it would cost, say £3,000 at 4 per cent., a yearly
interest of £120, would not constitute a heavy burden on the
mission.
(7) The present house, with some slight alterations, might still
remain and form a comfortable presbytery for a good many years
to come.
(8) In the permission to build granted by the Board of Works,
according to present plans we have only leave for fifteen months,
after which time any new additions will again have to be sub-
mitted to the Board ; and as we have met with so many diffi-
culties in passing our plans through, we may not succeed in
obtaining another favourable concession.
The bishop, however, disliking to incur debt, refused to accede
to the request backed by Bentley's carefully marshalled argu-
ments and fixed June 12th, 1887, for the solemn opening of the
church. Father van Doorne then bestirred himself to provide
furniture for the occasion, and it is to be regretted that instead
of contenting himself with the purchase of a quantity of shop-
made Belgian articles, he did not invite Bentley to design beau-
tiful and suitable seats, cupboards, etc., in keeping with the dignity
of their surroundings.
Bentley's design, conceived on a magnificent scale, was for a
stately church in Early Decorated style, to consist of nave, chancel
with ambulatory, north and south aisle, transepts, three side
chapels, and tower. The plan included two sacristies at the south-
cast corner, with an organ chamber above, and heating chamber
below them, and a presbytery attached at the south-west angle.
The extreme internal length provided for was 142 ft., the breadth
of the section taken across the transepts being 88 ft.
The nave will consist of five bays, its length attaining 98 ft.
and its width 30 ft. The piers of the fourfold arcading on cither
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side somewhat resemble quatrefoils on plan, their nave and aisle
facets having three faces, while engaged shafting forms the
lateral profiles. The distance from the centre of each pier to the
next is 20 ft. The height measured from the nave floor to the
interior crown of the roof is 64 ft., to the exterior ridge it
measures 78 ft. The roof is a pointed barrel vault, and the drop
arches of the clerestory windows spring on the same level, and rise
into it to a little above half its height, thus forming a groin. The
vault is plastered, with moulded wooden ribs.
The chancel, consisting of two bays raised three steps above
the level of the nave, is of equal width and measures 35 ft. in
length exclusive of the ambulatory. The height from floor to
roof apex internally is 62 ft. The piers are more intricate in
profile than those of the nave and their caps are delicately and
exquisitely wreathed with naturalistic foliage, sprays of ivy, rose,
and oak. The symbolic triple crown and the mitre are seen in
the corbels placed at the springing of the arches to support the
shafting which, continuous through the clerestory, carries the roof
principals. Above the altar a sevenfold arcading embellishes the
triforium gallery. The photograph indicates this moderately well,
but it is unfortunately impossible to place a camera in a position
sufficiently far away to take the entire east end. The picture
of the exterior, however, supplies an idea of the splendid pro-
portions of the three great traceried windows which are filled
with glowing stained glass of the most sumptuous richness.
Bentley's drawings show also a rood-loft of beautiful detail
with a carved and traceried balcony and seven shields, probably
to be painted with instruments of the Passion, affixed to the
beam. The crucifix and the two attendant figures are raised
aloft on branching pedestals, while seven sanctuary lamps depend
at varying lengths from the beam. We devoutly hope that the
future will see this feature carried out (Plates LII and LIII).
The original portion of the church built by Bentley included
the chancel and the two eastern chapels, and the sacristy and
organ loft adjoining that on the south side. The Lady Chapel,
416 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
of three bays, is that north of the chancel, and opening into it
by a pair of arches, St. John's Chapel is similarly arranged on
the south side.
The north transept is 20ft. deep ; the south 31 ft. deep, with
(now) a temporary porch on its western wall. Interior height to
roof apex is 50 ft. ; exterior 57| ft. These, built at a cost of £2,500
since the architect's death, by his successors, suffer from an
unfortunate departure in several details from his designs, the
most disastrous, perhaps, being the reduction in the size of the
rose windows, which pierce the end wall above two slender trefoil-
headed lights. No part of nave or aisles has yet been attempted ;
the latter on the north will extend for a length of 61 1 ft. with a
width of 16 ft., and have confessionals and offices built against
its outer wall. The tower chamber, with stone groined vaulting,
adjoins at the western end. From the south aisle, shorter by
5i ft. to allow for the encroachment of the presbytery plan, one
will enter the chapel of the Holy Ghost, measuring just under
43 ft. long by 12 ft. wide ; a position for the font is provided at
the western end of this chapel, while the altar is placed against
the curtain walling of the south transept.
The photograph of the east elevation, with its splendid yet
simple fenestration and the charming little " blind " turrets
crowning the chapel buttresses, includes a view of the south
transept and the gables of the organ gallery. The side elevation
to Trent Road, when completed, will show the range of six trefoil-
headed lancets in the Holy Ghost Chapel, beneath six two-light
clerestory windows, fellows to the three which occupy this position
on cither side of the chancel. At the extreme western corner,
united to the church, will rise the clergy house, a delightful four-
storeyed dwelling with gabled roofs and stone window tracery.
The principal feature of the west facade of the church will be
the square tower on the left, 127 ft. high, capped with a spire,
which brings the total height, inclusive of the finial cross, to
190 ft. The design of the spire, peculiarly attractive in originality
of treatment, shows horizontal banding of brick and stone for
PARISH CHURCHES 417
about two-thirds of its height, the last third being carried out in
erocketed stonework. A pair of three-light " geometric " windows
pierce the west wall at the clerestory level ; beneath which are set
two lancets above a lower row of four. Across the fa9ade, above
the great windows, runs a gallery without balustrading, the face
of the gable being somewhat set back. A small blind turret,
akin to those of the east end, completes the elevation on the right.
The north elevation will be parallel with Horsford Road,
whence the principal entrance to the church will be made in the
tower, through an arch whose splendidly moulded orders are
borne on slender triple shafting. The sculpture embraced by
its tympanum represents the symbolic tree of Jesse. The north
wall of the Lady Chapel is pierced by three triple-light windows
akin in design to those of five lights in the east end of this and
of St. Joseph's Chapel.
The splendid stained glass, ranking among the best designed
by Bentley, being fully dealt with in Chapter XXI, it will suffice
to remark here that the east windows of the chancel, St. Joseph's
Chapel, and the Lady Chapel, and the three side windows of the
latter, are all from his designs. The two in the choir gallery con-
taining four and two lights respectively are the work of another
hand, commissioned by Father van Doorne in a fit of impatience
during the architect's serious illness in 1898. The recommendation
to the artist to copy Bentley's style was absolutely disregarded,
and Father van Doorne had regretfully to acknowledge that his
experiment was an utter failiire. The rose windows and double-
light windows of the transepts have recently been filled with
stained glass by the architect's son, in memory of members of
the Fallon family, ever to be numbered among this church's
greatest benefactors.
As regards internal furnishings, the sole example of the architect's
work is the high altar and reredos, executed some years after his
death, and therefore to some degree lacking the individuality
produced by Ids supervision. As may be recognized in the photo-
graph of the chancel, several varieties of marble have been em-
418 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
ployed, and the imposing reredos, which is carried up to the sills
of the triforium arcade, encloses three panels in opus sectile, re-
presenting the Baptism of our Lord, the Descent from the Cross,
and the Resurrection. In opus sectile and powdered, with the
letters I.H.S. ray-surrounded, are the side panels of the reredos,
above a dado of finely figured cipollino. The framework, the
cornice, crockets, and angels are sculptured in the " second statu-
ary " marble of Carrara.
The altar, with its gradus, is built in grey Hopton Wood stone,
with a good slab of Siena, centred with an inlaid lozenge of
cipollino, to compose the frontal. A mosaic of mother-of-pearl
and gold is employed to border the opus sectile panels and the
frontal, this latter being set within a moulded frame of white
marble enriched with ball flowers. Of the tabernacle, bronze
gilt, pelican-capped and enriched with precious stones, we shall
speak in another place. The altar rails, placed temporarily
at the first arcade of the sanctuary, thus dividing the sanctuarium
from the presbyterium, which now serves the purpose of a nave,
were likewise provided by the Bentley firm after its founder's
death.
The wooden polychrome-decorated altars in the two side
chapels are Belgian productions, as also is the font, a copy in
blue marble of an early Gothic one that Father van Doorne had
seen and admired in some chirrch in his native land.
The church had the opportunity of acquiring a worthy set of
Stations of the Cross, for on one occasion the late W. Christian
Symons offered, under certain conditions, to paint them. One
can but regret that Father van Doorne saw fit to decline the
artist's generous offer.
This priest had during a great number of years persevered
in collecting a fund to build adequate schools, which by 1899 had
reached a quite substantial fraction of the £4,000 required. The
suggestion, emanating from several quarters, that this money
should be spent in enlarging the church, the part thus built to be
used as a temporary school, was submitted to the architect.
PARISH CHURCHES 4i9
Bentley, 'while admitting its feasibility, discouraged the idea as
being both unwise and uncanonical and it was straightway
abandoned.
In the autumn of the following year, Father van Doorne,
feeling age and sickness growing fast upon him, resolved to place
his resignation in the hands of the bishop, and to retire to the
family roof-tree, the house in which he was born, at the village of
Poucke, between Ghent and Bruges. In announcing his departure
to his congregation in February 1901, and bidding them farewell,
he imparted that he had made over his mortgage of £2,500 to
the diocese, that the church was free from debt, and that the
sum of £2,400 was in hand towards the school buildings, work for
a younger and fresher man to initiate. It devolved upon Father
Curran, assistant priest since 1894, and his successor in the
rectorship, who added the transepts and built the schools. The
latter, begun immediately after Father van Doorne's departure,
were just on the point of completion in March 1902, when
Bentley died.
(4) Holy Rood, Watford
The design of this church has well been styled a summary of
Bentley's knowledge and resources. The opportunity was rare
and precious ; on the one hand a client, generous, comprehending,
wealthy, setting no limit to the beauty and completeness of his
votive offering ; on the other, an artist for once completely
released from the sordid thralls of retrenchment and ignorant
interference, and wholly in sympathy with the founder's vision.
It was in 1879 that Mr. S. Taprell Holland, of Otterspool,
Aldenham, Hertfordshire, a member of the building firm in which
over thirty years earlier Bentley had served a period of apprentice-
ship, bought a site on the land known as the Rose and Crown
Meadow in Watford, formerly appertaining to Merton College,
Oxford. This site he formally conveyed to Cardinal Manning
and the Westminster Cathohc Diocesan Trustees ; and in January
commissioned Bentley to erect thereon, at his sole expense, a
420 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
Catholic Church 'Watfoiu)
f<«<. f 4wlr
^iDE Ei/evXVioM — MAiytsT ^rrieei; ,
Fia. 38. — Chuboh of the Holy Rood, Watfobd : South and East Elevations.
church, presbytery, and schools. The church, to be built with
one side parallel to the new street named Market Street, was to
provide accommodation for from 450 to 500 persons.
The foundation stone was laid on Thursday, August 29th,
PARISH CHURCHES
421
Catholic Chukch Vv'.vrroR.D
Jw. 39. — Church of the Holy Bood, Watford : (1) LoNonTUDiifAL SBcnoif. 2. Teansvtibsb
Section.
1879, by Canon Keens. Cardinal Manning evinced from the begin-
ning a great interest in this church, and intended to lay the first
■stone ; but illness overtaking him a few days before the date
fixed, the canon was deputed to 'perform the ceremony on his
behalf. The Cardinal defrayed the expense and presented the
422 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
stone, which bears his arms and an inscription recording the
event.
Bentley's design, in Late Perpendicular style, embraced nave,
chancel, transepts, south aisle, two aisles on the north, three side
chapels, baptistery, sacristies, two porches, and tower. The total
interior length is 98 ft., and the width at the crossing 63 ft. 3 in.
The space allotted to the sanctuary is large, its length inclusive
of the ambulatory being, roughly, nearly one-half that of the
nave. The actual measurements are : nave, length, 65 ft. Ih in. ;
width, 26 ft. 9 in. ; chancel, length, 29 ft. 3 in. ; width, 20 ft. ;
zvidth of chancel aisles, 6 ft. 9 in. ; width of ambulatory, 4 ft. 6 in.
The nave consists of five bays, the arcading being continuous,
in the fashion approved by Bentley, across the transept openings ;
the distance from centre to centre of each nave pier is 12 ft. The
porch of the main entrance is placed at the south-west corner,
and opens into the aisle of which it forms the extremity. This
aisle, corresponding in length to two bays of the nave, is 16 ft. 6 in.
wide, and equals therefore the depth of the south transept.
The north transept measures 23 ft. in breadth, equivalent to
the united width of the two aisles on this side, the first being
12 ft. and the second (two-thirds occupied by the chantry chapel
of the Holy Ghost) 11 ft. wide. The length of the north aisles
corresponds to the three westernmost bays of the nave.
To complete the main dimensions it must be stated that the
height from the nave floor to the crown of the vault is internally
35| ft. ; externally 46 ft. The height of the nave arcading to
the apex of the arch soffits is 14| ft. The chancel, elevated one
step above the nave, has an internal height of 35 ft. ; to the outer
ridge of the roof it measiu'es 43 ft. The chancel arcading is
11 ft. 6 in. high to the apex of its intrados.
It was decided to proceed first with the sanctuary, nave, tran-
septs, and south aisle, which were structurally complete and
opened for worship on September 16th, 1890, by the Bishop of
Amycla (the Cardinal again being ill). The celebration of the
Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross was transferred from
Church of the Holy Rood-
WATfOHO. HtRTS.
THE PORTIONS HATCHED. SHOW WOfiK NOT 'tl exECUTEl
Plate LIV. — Chukch of the Holy Rood, Watford: Gp.ound^Plan (1879).
422]
PiATE LV. — Church of the Holy Rood, \\'atfoed : East End and Pkesbytery. "f
H23
PARISH CHURCHES 423
September 14th to the latter date, as a special privilege, the
church being dedicated to the Holy Rood. On May 7th, 1894
(the nearest available date to the Feast of the Finding of the True
Cross, May 3rd), Cardinal Vaughan laid the foundation stone of
the baptistery and tower, which, together with the founder's
chantry and the north aisles, were completed in 1900. Altars,
shrines, glass, furniture, metalwork, and internal decorations had
been added also in the intervening years, and the church being
complete and free from debt was consecrated by the late Right
Rev. Bishop Brindle, D.S.O., assistant to Cardinal Vaughan (since
Bishop of Nottingham), on July 5th, 1900, when the relics of the
martyrs St. Dimitilla and St. Constantia were encased in the
sepulchre of the high altar.
The architect, then seriously ill and unable to be present at
this triumphal conclusion to his labours, since he had recently
been struck down with a second paralytic attack, was represented
at the long ceremony and the subsequent luncheon by his two
eldest daughters. Never will the occasion be forgotten by the
writer of this memoir ; for mingled with rejoicing at the exquisite
gem wrought by faith-inspired genius was the tragic sadness of
the sick bed on which its patient author lay suffering, and for
a season almost speechless.
The materials employed in the construction of the fabric were
flint facings, with dressings of Bath stone, and red tiles for roofing.
The east end, facing Percy Street, is pierced by the seven lights
and beautiful tracery of the great window, while flanking the
chancel walls are twin turrets dedicated to St. Michael and St.
Gabriel, and containing respectively the Angelus bell and the
Sanctus bell. The gable ends of the eastern chapels of our Lady
and St. John are also to be noted. The south elevation reveals
the three clerestory windows of the chancel, of two lights within a
narrow shouldered arch ; and the two side windows of St. John's
Chapel, each of three lights. A splendid flood of light is obtained
by the fenestration of this transept, consisting of a broad opening
divided into six lights of unequal height, the second and fifth of
424 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
the group being carried through the tracery considerably higher
than the remaining four. A group of eight hghts composes the
north transept window, to be seen from the street by taking a
view from the north-west ; the window is divided by traceried
transoms, one long and two short, so that three lights occupy the
lowest third of the opening, and the upper centre light is continu-
ous throughout the remaining height up to the traceried head.
Two small and interiorly deeply recessed glazed openings pierce
the transept wall at the ground floor level. The south aisle
receives light from two four-light windows, set within four-centred
arches. The nave clerestory is pierced in each bay likewise with
a four-light opening (Plate LV).
The principal features of the west elevation are the very large
window of twelve lights, divided into two storeys of six, and the
massive square tower at the north-west corner. This attains at the
embattlement a height of 117 ft., and is completed by a fteche rising
from the octagonal staircase turret. The western doorway nestles
between the terminal wall of the nave and the base of the tower.
On setting foot within the church, a thrill of pure delight is
experienced, such that one is unable for a time to give it coherent
expression. The mainspring of one's wonder is the manner in
which multiplied details have been co-ordinated into a perfect
unity. The whole is so joyous, so brimming with exuberant
fancy, and yet remains, one is constrained to acknowledge, under
the perfect control of the trained master mind. Here we stand
silent as before the shrine of Bentley's devotion, the materialized
prayer of a heart " flaming itself out in sincere passion, lonely
and autocratic." ^ One feels as though] listening unseen to an
articulate prayer.
The splendid crimson rood-loft flung across the chancel arch
strikes the keynote alike of dedication and of adornment. The
stained glass of the east window, the painted decorations of the
chancel, the texts and verses introduced in scrollwork on walls,
cornices, and ceiling, the predominance of red in mm'al decoration,
1 "John Francis Bentley," by Halsey Ricardo, Architectural Review, May 1902.
PARISH CHURCHES 425
are all devised to concentrate the mind of the worshipper upon
the great symbol of Redemption (Plate LVII).
The internal walls are plastered, those of the nave being
undecorated ; the cornice is coloured red, with a painted inscrip-
tion occupying its whole length. The transverse moulded ribs
and the longitudinal rib of the broad barrel vault are of the same
beautiful tone of Venetian red, the rafters being painted white.
Upon the nave face of the chancel arch are carved paterae,
each containing a letter, surrounded by rays, of the words
Adoremus Te.
The sanctuary is a glowing gem of colour, in which altar,
reredos, walls, and roof are all components of the harmonious
whole. On the wall above the triple arcading north and south
are painted half-figures of saints on red grounds within circular
medallions, encircled by a trellis of twining grape vines, roses,
and pomegranates, expressed in delicate tones of green, purple,
and rose. Each saint bears an emblem, and his head is scroll-
encircled with name and invocation. The six medallions on the
south, beginning with that nearest to the rood, represent St. Thomas
of Canterbury, St. Edward, King and Confessor, St. Anselm,
St. Augustine of Canterbury, St. George, St. Francis of Assisi,
On the north, in similar order, are St. Alphege, St. Oswald,
St. Gregory the Great, St. Cuthbert, St. Alban, St. Bernard.
Adjoining the rood-beam, on either side, on the chancel wall
is painted a scroll-bearing angel with rosy wings, seated upon
the vine stem ; on the south the appropriate inscription reads :
" Sancti Discipuli Domini, orate pro nobis." That opposite runs :
" Omnes Sancti Pontifices et Confessores, orate pro nobis."
The vine leaf and grape detail sculptured on the capitals of
the sanctuary is exquisite in its union of delicacy and forceful-
ness. The first arch on either side is open to the sanctuary
aisles ; the second on the north is closed by a golden grille,
inscribed, in the pierced lettering of its cornice, with the answered
prayer of the penitent thief: " Domine, memento mei quam
veneris in regnum tuum. Amen, dico tibi, hodie mecum eris in
426 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
paradiso." The corresponding arch on the south is occupied by
the canopied sediUa in traceried and panelled oak. The third
arches are on both sides filled in, nearly up to the springing,
with wainscot, painted in dull Venetian red,^ whose panel mould-
ings and cuspings are in polychrome and gilt, while each panel
displays a golden I.H.S. on a grey ground, enwreathed with
green thorns and golden rays. The aumbry, formed in this
woodwork on the north side, is adorned with golden pomegranates
and inscribed " Sanctum Chrisma." The stone piscina, occupying
a similar position opposite, with an opening of exquisite ogee
form, having a fleur de lys finial, is delicately patterned within
in a diaper of green, gold, and white. The tympana of these
sanctuary arches are entirely filled by two opus sectile panels ;
that on the north represents the Entombment ; on the south is
depicted the Agony in the Garden. Both are beautiful in colour
and meritorious in execution ; the tones are kept low, and gold is
used sparingly ; in fact, only as required for the nimbi (Plate LVIII).
Similar panelling, carried up to the point of intersection of
the arcading, occupies the wall space on either side of the reredos.
In the interval between this wainscot and the triforium gallery
are two large wall paintings in tempera of incidents in our
Lord's Passion. That on the Gospel side represents Him crowned
with thorns, clothed in the scarlet robe and bearing the reed
sceptre. The Jews cluster round to mock the patient sufferer,
behind Wlaom is a stone fretted canopy against a golden back-
ground. Two angels, with pinkish-red robes and wings, uphold
a scroll worded: "Factus sum in derisum omni populo meo."
On the Epistle side is pictured the Betrayal in the Garden.
Judas advances his face to bestow the treacherous kiss upon the
central Figure. On the right St. Peter wields his sword above a
prostrate soldier. Others grouped upon the left make ready,
with spears and ropes, to seize the Master. Olive trees against a
golden ground appear behind the group, and the attendant angels
1 Originallj-. Repainting and vamisliing has, we think, made the colour here brighter
than Bentley would have approved.
Plate LVI. — Church of the Holy Rood, Watford : High Altar akd Reredos.
426]
PARISH CHURCHES 427
above bear a scroll inscribed : " Et appenderunt mercedem meam
triginta argenteos."
The reredos (Plate LVI) is placed against the east wall of
the sanctuary, its wings resting upon the gradine, a structure of
warm grey Derbyshire marble and red breccia arranged in
alternate horizontal banding. The portion of the reredos which
rises above the marble work consists of four panels, each painted
on a red ground with a thrcc-quarter-length figure of an angel,
white-robed, crowned, and bearing, suspended by cords, a shield
displaying the evangelistic emblems. The fretted canopy, sur-
mounted with rich brattishing, has a coffered ceiling painted
and gilt, and extends between the crocketed wings to shelter the
throne. This is also of wood carved in similar intricate and
beautiful fashion, and finished with gilding. The dossal, deeply
recessed in the centre to allow of the tabernacle being set back
sufiiciently, consists of a frame of the grey marble enclosing fine
panels of cipollino, each outlined with a narrow mosaic band of
red and green marble and mother-of-pearl tesserae. A single
slab of clear red marble serves as the frontal, inlaid with two
elegant pomegranates of marble and pearl, shading from deep
tones of green to opalescent white. A mosaic band in pearl,
gold, and green within a marble moulding forms the frame of the
frontal. The tabernacle (1899), altar candlesticks, and cross (1893)
are all Bentley's work, and receive further mention in Chapter XXII.
In the altar steps, made of white marble, the words " Sanctus,
Sanctus, Sanctus" and "Pro nobis obediens usque ad mortem"
are inset in tiles in the risers. The remainder of the sanctuary
paving is a combination of encaustic tiles and marble, the sanc-
tuarium being divided from the presbyterium by three marble
steps, while in the carved oaken stalls and seats placed against
the walls of the latter we recognize the stamp of Bentley's origi-
nality allied to the best ancient tradition. A stone, graven with
an inscription to commemorate the consecration of the church, is
inserted in the north wall beneath the sculptured corbel support-
ing the rood-loft.
428 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
A small doorway in the north pier, seen from the sanctuary
aisle, leads to the oaken pulpit, designed in 1893, and placed
against the nave face of this pier. By a similar door in the
south pier, we mount the staircase to the rood and triforium
of the chancel, the stairways continuing upwards to the bell
turrets. The rood-loft, a broad gallery, with a carved wooden
balustrade on its western side and one of wrought iron on
the other, carries a crucifix rising almost to the chancel roof,
whence its weight is partly supported by chains. The statues of
ovu: Lady and St. John rise, on branching pedestals, to about half
the height of the cross. The terminals to the arms of the cross
consist of the four evangelistic symbols carved and gilt. A beautifvd
Venetian red is the prominent colour treatment throughout,
relieved by the traceried outline of gilded leaves and fruit of the
vine, value and contrast being obtained by the use of duU
green in the chamfers. Partly gilt, too, are the pedestals of the
lateral figures.
On the inner side of the sanctuary piers, facing therefore towards
the rood, are painted in delicate tones full-length figures of angels.
The archangel of the Annunciation (north), standing on clouds
rayed with glory, bears the symbolic lily and a scroll inscribed :
" Ave, Gratia Plena Dominus Tecum." On the opposite side is
seen St. Michael, archangel of the Passion, with a flaming sword
and the words, " Salus Deo Nostro, Alleluia."
The triforium windows have white glazing; their tracery
is beautiful and varied. The glowing stained glass of the
east window may be well studied from the gallery ; but its
description, to avoid repetition, must be reserved for another
chapter. It remains to mention the decoration of the chancel
roof, whose construction is well seen in the photograph (Plate LVII).
The ribs, harmoniously treated with lines of light red, green,
and blue, are outlined with vine leaves painted in greenish-
toned grisaille. Upon the light blue groundwork is a powdering
of stars carved and gilt. The triforium ceilings are likewise blue,
powdered between the ribs with rayed I.II.S. The chancel roof
PARISH CHURCHES 429
is varied above the rood-loft, two compartments being painted
with red circular medalHons at intervals encircled with vine
tendrils and leaves ; the enrayed I.H.S. forms the centre of each.
Descending to the ground level we note that the ground
ambulatory ceilings are painted with representations of the
Crown of Thorns bursting into leaf and flower and a label
above each arch bearing a line from the first and third verses
of the hymn "Vexilla Regis." These chancel aisles receive light
from a small window in the east wall. From the north side of
the ambulatory one enters the two sacristies behind the Lady
Chapel ; on the south is found the store-room behind St. John's
Chapel, entered through stout red-painted doors.
The Lady Chapel is enclosed from the ambulatory by splendid
flamboyant grilles of gilt iron, amazingly nervous and vivacious
in treatment. Tall fleur de lys alternate with crowned monograms
of the Blessed Virgin above the frieze, which in pierced lettering
announces, " Pulchra es amica mea Suavis et decora sicut Jerusa-
lem." The fleur de lys is employed again for the altar rails, one
such device filling each space between the twisted uprights. The
chapel has but a temporary altar ; though the stained glass in
the east window was put up to the memory of Elizabeth Hanley,
who died in 1890. The ceiling, a vault with four cants, is
painted a dull Venetian red, and powdered with golden lilies in
vases and the letters M.R. crowned and rayed, wliile verses
from the Magnificat are inscribed upon the moulded wooden
cornice. The north aisle of the Lady Chapel, divided from it
by a low parapet wall connecting the two arches, is ceiled in dull
blue painted with golden I.H.S. , and was reserved on Bentley's
plan for the choir ; at present there is no organ, its duty being
done by a harmonium placed at the south-west corner of the
chancel. There is a doorway in this Lady Chapel aisle admitting
to the sacristy passage which has been closed, so that in the
transept serves instead.
The chapel of St. John the Evangelist, on the south side of the
chancel, has a ceiling similarly designed and treated ; with the
U— 7
430 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
appropriate variation that on its red ground appear golden eagles
and the saint's initials, ray-surrounded. The cornice displays the
opening verses of the fourth gospel. The altar here again is
temporary, and mural decoration there is none ; but the splendid
metalwork of grilles and altar rails bestows its meed of adornment.
The grilles partly enclose the chapel on the ambulatory side,
occupying the arch nearest to the altar and half of the next ;
their cornice, pierced with lettering, is surmounted by upstanding
leafage and two symbolic eagles. The chief motif of the altar
rails is the pomegranate, outlined in strapwork, and placed corner-
wise, four in each panel of the railings. The top rail is brass,
and the ironwork is everywhere finished with gilding. The three-
light east window, to the memory of Sophia Rivaz, who died in
1892, represents the Last Supper. In the six lights contained in
the two side windows, put up by Joshua and Susannah Walker,
are pictured events in the saint's earthly and mystical life.
The transepts, equal in length to two bays of the nave, and
crossed by its continued arcading, are ceiled with a ribbed vault
in four cants, painted blue, with golden tongues of flame upon
the principal rafters. A simple and roomy double confessional,
made of oak, panelled and slightly enriched with carving, is
placed in the south transept.
The south aisle has a flat ceiHng, supported midway by a finely
pierced and moulded beam, borne on stone head corbels, beam
and ribs being painted with a pattern in red on a white ground.
At the west end of the aisle a red painted single door admits to
the porch. The two four-light windows of this aisle are filled with
Bentley's beautiful golden-toned glass, very little other colour
being introduced, the subjects being full-length figm-es of eight
prophets — Jacob, Zacharias, Isaias, Jeremias, Moyses, David,
Osee, and Malachias.
This porch has another opening into the nave, by means of
double doors, painted red, and having their upper panels traceried
and glazed. Above the doorway the architect's memorial tablet
is afiixed to the nave wall; it was erected by Mr. S. Taprcll
Church of the Holy Rood, Watfoed : Chancei, (Painted Decokation).
430)
Chuech of the Holy Rood, Watfoed : North Aisle and Holland Chantry
Chapel of the Holy Ghost.
Plate LVIII.
Chxtrch of the Holy Rood, \\'atfokd : The Baptistery.
Church of the Holy Kood, Watford : Detail of Scuijtuee.
J'latk LIX.
[431
PARISH CHURCHES 481
Holland, and carved by the sculptor McCarthy, as a tribute to
the master for whom he had laboured for thirty years. Bentley's
head, modelled in low relief within a sunk medallion, is
surrounded by a wreath. The enclosing frame of white stone is
adorned with incised and lead-filled leafage. The inscription at
the base reads :
PRAY FOR THE SOUL OF JOHN FRANCIS BENTLEY
THE ARCHITECT OF WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL
TO WHOSE GENIUS AND DEVOTION
THE BEAUTY OF THIS CHURCH IS DUE
BORN JANUARY 30TH, 1839
DIED MARCH 3RD,^ 1902
BURIED AT MORTLAKE
MAY HE REST IN PEACE
That the likeness in this memorial is not a good one must
be admitted and deplored ; the features are too small relatively,
while the head is weak in modelling and has little of his massive
leonine character.
The west window of the nave is filled with stained glass
designed and executed by the firm of Burlison & Grylls in 1904 ;
the subject is the Crucifixion ; the donor, Mr. S. T. Holland,
whose chantry, dedicated to the Holy Ghost, occupies two bays
of the north aisle. Beneath an arched recess for his monument
provided in the north wall of the chapel is constructed the
sepulchral vault. To the left, and at the level of the tomb, is a
tiny two-light window in whose stained glass of early Renaissance
inspiration Bentley has tinctured the arms of the founder and a
representation of Holy Rood Church, his pious and munificent
gift. The shield occupies the left-hand light; the church, in a
medallion upheld by two angels, is in the other. The inscription
beneath runs: *'0f your Charity pray for the Intention of
Stephen Taprell Holland, who for the Greater Glory of God,
1 There is a slight error in this date: the architect died on March 2nd.
432 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
between the years 1889 and 1896 built the Church of the Holy-
Rood in Watford, and gave it, together with this chapel of the
Holy Ghost, his chantry, to the Archdiocese of Westminster."
For the exquisite stained glass in the two three-light windows
of this chapel, the reader must be referred, as before, to a later
chapter. Its tone is very light and delicate on account of the rich
and glowing colour contributed by walls, ceiling, and altar.
The chapel opens upon the north aisle by a triple arcading,
enclosed by gilded grilles and gates. The eastward arch into
the transept is partially closed by altar and reredos ; the chapel's
western end being terminated by part of the baptistery wall,
pierced by a small glazed opening. Emphasis is given to the
beautiful quadripartite vaulting by the white ribs patterned with
red against their red severies and the golden leafy bosses.
Golden likewise are the tongues of fire flaming upwards between
the springing of the ribs. The Pentecostal idea is emphasized
again in the silver dove suspended above the altar, and the opus
sectile reredos which depicts the descent of the Holy Ghost upon
the infant church. The altar, gradine, and reredos are constructed
wholly of precious marbles, and an added richness is obtained by
partially gilding, in silvery and greenish tones of the metal, the
foliated cornice and the ball flower decoration of the carved
alabaster reredos. The gradine is constructed of horizontal band-
ing of pink and white marbles ; a deeper red being utilised to
fill the lateral panels of the reredos. The frontal is composed
of three fine slabs of pink breccia. Marble again is used to pave
the floor which bestows the finishing touch on a shrine of beauty,
refinement, and elegance (Plate LVIII).
In the baptistery, another stone groined compartment entered
both from the north aisle and the west porch, an effective feature
is the method of interior construction with small stones having
wide, rakcd-out joints. The font set in the centre, beneath a
spired canopy, has a septagonal bowl, symbolic of the seven
sacraments, constructed of pink marble, the names of the virtues
carved thereon being gilt. The oaken canopy is in pleasing con-
PARISH CHURCHES 433
trast to the delicate hues of the marbles employed in the font
and paving, and to the blue and silver, symbolic of the waters of
baptism, wherewith the enclosing railings are coloured (Plate LIX).
Among other accessories designed by Bentley are the canopied
shrines, carved in Kauri pine, painted and gilt, of the Blessed
Virgin and the Sacred Heart (1893-4), while the alabaster statues,
sculptured to his design, are of unusual merit. In 1890 he also
provided a white and gold altar frontal for the high altai-, a
temporary erection which endured until replaced by the altar
and reredos now standing in 1899.^
The electric lighting was installed in 1899 ; the beautiful flat
pierced and gilt pendants which carry the bulbs in chancel and
nave will be observed in the photographs.
The presbytery adjoining the church, as we have obsei-ved, at
its eastern end, is a charming two-storeyed house built of flint and
red bricks with stone dressings and tile roofing, the upper storey
being finished with rough cast. The ground-floor plan is included
with that of the church ; the upper provides two bed and two
sitting rooms for the priest and his curate, a bathroom and a
servant's bedroom.
The schools, adjoining the presbytery, built in 1893 and en-
larged in 1899, provide accommodation for girls, boys, and infants
to the number of 214.
(5) St. Luke's, Chiddingstone Causeway
This idyllic little village church was built in 1897-8 as a
memorial by Mrs. Ernest Hills, of Redleaf, Penshurst, and other
members of the Hills family, to replace a small iron structure,
subsequently re-erected as the parish club-room. The choice of
the architect was due in large measure to Mr, John Sargent, R,A.,
a friend of Mrs. E, Hills (he had twice painted her portrait), from
1 With the Stations of the Cross, painted on copper, Bentley had nothing to do ; they
are the worli of IVIr. X. H. J. Westlake, executed some years after the architect's death.
The frames are au adaptation of a design by the latter.
434 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
whom she had heard much in praise of Bentley. The latter wrote
on February 6th, 1897 : " By this post I have the pleasiu-e of
forwarding you two plans of the proposed church — one with, and
the other without, a bell turret. The tower, I regret to say, is
impossible with the money at your disposal, and it will be, I am
sure, as much as we can manage to provide for the turret. Before
proceeding with the design, I thought you might like to show the
incumbent the plan, and further I wished to satisfy myself that
I had included all your requirements. Please let me know if
I have done so."
Ultimately it was decided to have the tower at any cost, and
an amended set of plans was submitted to the family for approval
in April. This (accepted) design was for a small church, to hold
180 to 200 people, in the local style of the early sixteenth century,
very simple in detail, consisting of nave, chancel (with organ
chamber on the south, and the Redleaf " pew " opening into it
on the north), tower, and porch. The total internal length is
82 ft., width across nave 24 ft., width across chancel inclusive of
side extensions, 42 ft. The nave measures 51 ft. long, and there
is an ascent of three steps to the chancel level. The height taken
from the nave floor to the interior apex of the barrel vault is
26 ft. ; to the exterior ridge it measures 33 ft. 6 in. The chancel
has a length of 28 ft., 16 ft. allotted to the widest portion and
12 ft. to the narrower part, raised by two more steps, where stands
the altar table. A pair of arches on either side open it to the
before-mentioned organ chamber and Redleaf pew (Figs. 40 and 4l).
The tower, measuring 17 ft. square internally, rises to a height
of 48 ft. at the machicolated coping ; the elevations show that
Bentley intended to finish it with a fleche, to be carried out when
funds should permit. It is still incomplete. Within it contains
a heating chamber at the lowest stage ; a vestry on the chancel
level, and above ringing and bell chambers. There is an inde-
pendent entrance to the vestry and the Hills pew on the north-
east side of the tower.
The roomy porch at the north-west corner of the bviilding has
PARISH CHURCHES 485
an alto-relievo sculpture of the winged ox of St. Luke in a square
panel set within the gable ; and sculptured foliage adorns the
spandrels of the flattened entrance arch. There are three steps
up from the churchyard and two more from the porch to the
nave level (Plate LX).
The materials of construction are Bath stone ashlar (in place of
the local stone from Speldhurst primarily suggested) and red tiles
for roofing ; the interior is plastered, with the intention of com-
pleting it up to the window-sills with oak panelled wainscot, for
which Bentley prepared designs, but this also awaits the day when
funds will be forthcoming. The nave is floored with wood blocks,
the chancel with stone and encaustic tiles. A propos of the
leopards' heads which pattern these, Bentley remarked on one
occasion to Mrs. Hills, with the humorous eye-twinkle she knew
and loved : " You notice I have made them all put their tongues
out at you, because you are Protestants."
The fenestration includes handsome east and west windows
of seven lights, the tracery being varied in each case. The nave
has, on the north side, two window openings containing four
trefoil-headed lights within a broad four- centred arch ; similar
windows pierce the south wall, though their positions do not
correspond. A window of four lights, in two storeys, admits a
fuller measure of illumination to the font placed in the south-west
corner of the nave, while similar windows of four lights light the
chancel on north and south. The chancel extensions have at
their east ends a two-light window, with multifoil tracery.
The nave roof ribs are painted white, producing a good effect
in contrast to the greenish -blue ground. The chancel roof, con-
structed in four cants springing from a broad machicolated
cornice, is similarly painted. The sloping roofs of the extensions
display white ribs on a dull Venetian red ground. Unfortunately
the organ, by Norman & Beard, has been unduly extended, so
that it cuts across the chancel arcade, the console being brought
right into view, and the effect of the arcade is lost (Plate LXI).
The altar, of oak with carved and pierced panels, is Bentley's
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438 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
work, put up in his lifetime ; but the pulpit and chancel stalls,
of similar material and design, were not carried out till after his
death by the Bentley firm. The communion rails of wrought
iron with a brass rail were, however, made in 1898 ; they consist
of a series of panels divided by twisted uprights, and enframing
pomegranates wrought in strapwork and foliation ; the design is
simplicity itself, yet most effective.
The font, also Bentley's, was the gift of Mrs. Barclay Harvey.
An octagonal bowl of cipollino marble^ (from the then recently re-
discovered ancient quarries of Eubcea), perfectly plain except for
a slight swelling about half-way up, is set upon a simple octagonal
alabaster base. The coping and basin are of white marble. The
platform is cruciform ; and the angles of the base come centre-
wise to each face of the bowl. The whole is simple to a degree,
and owes its beauty to excellence of material and subtlety
of form.
The foundation stone was laid in the autumn of 1887 without
ceremony, after a short delay caused by the necessity of slightly
changing the site, it having been discovered in time that the
originally selected spot was only partly in the parish of Chidding-
stone. The church was complete and ready for the opening and
dedication on St. Luke's Day, October 18th, 1898. Bentley then
had the bare walls hung with thin material, in closely pleated folds,
pale greenish-blue in the nave and dull Venetian red in the
chancel, with truly delightful effect.
The memorial inscription (full-size setting out) was for the
occasion tacked to the wall immediately under the string of the
window in the north wall of the chancel, where, carved in stone,
it now occupies a permanent position. Bentley had endeavoured,
he said, " to get rid of the abominable ' cut ' of modern in-
scriptions both in regard to character and form," in this memorial
stone, which reads as follows : " To the Glory of God and in
loving memory of Frank Clarke Hills, of Redleaf, Penshurst, Kent,
' " Probably," said Bentley, " the marble of this font is the first that has left the
quarries since the days of Justinian."
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PARISH CHURCHES 439
and Annie Ellen his wife >J< also of Frank Ernest and Edward
Henry, their sons, this church is dedicated on the Feast of St.
Luke in the year of Christ 1898."
The original plans, presented to Mrs. E. Hills by the Bentley
firm, hang, framed, in the vestry. The stained glass in the east
window, representing the Crucifixion, is the work of Mr. von
Glehn, erected in 1906 by Mrs. Ernest Hills and her sister, now
Lady Fowke, in memory of their parents, Evan Wynne-Roberts
and Margaret Mary his wife, who died respectively in 1878 and
1905. The south window of the chancel, by the same artist, is
to the memory of Charles Horfield, who died in 1905, and depicts
the Storm on the Lake in the upper lights, and our Lord saving
St. Peter from the waters in the lower.
The Hills family were one and all delighted with the little
church ; and Bentley seems to have derived nothing but pleasure
from their commission, and to have cemented a very real friend-
ship with Mrs. Hills of Redleaf ; for these two charming and
intelligent personalities fovmd much in common. Mr. Arnold
Hills voiced the family appreciation when he wrote to Bentley
in January 1899 : " The church is universally admired, and brings
you much flattering commendation."
(6) Churches Designed, but not Built
In common, we suppose, with most architects, Bentley endured
from time to time severe disappointments from his clients — or
would-be clients. It was a favourite maxim of his that a com-
mission was never to be counted on until the builder's contract
was signed. Undoubtedly among the most crushing of these
reverses may be reckoned the abortive plan for a cathedral at
Richmond, Virginia, U.S.A. ; though as a matter of fact, there
remains nothing in the way of correspondence to throw light on
the transaction, while, but for a meagre reference in his diary for
1883 to a " second set of plans " prepared, it would not have been
possible to identify the exquisite set of pencil drawings discovered
unnamed and unsigned in an old portfolio.
440 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
Inquiries among certain old professional friends have failed
to clear up the matter ; but there appears to be ground for the
belief that Father Rawes endeavoured in 1883 to secure for his
fi'iend the commission to build this proposed cathedral. Prob-
ably it was at his suggestion that Bentley privately prepared
these sketches, which, slight as they are in some respects, yet
contain all the essentials for a Late Decorated cathedral of imposing
size, beauty, and dignity. The drawing of the west front, most
complete of all, shows the splendid detail of a facade with two
towers, a magnificent rose window and imposing entrance. One
may surmise perhaps in the absence of other evidence that Bentley
declined to enter into competition, but agreed, on a promise of
secrecy and to please Father Rawes, to put on paper these tenta-
tive suggestions ; and so it happened that the matter was never
discussed, even with his most intimate friends, and Bentley bore
the subsequent disappointment in silence.
The Oblates in 1877 proposed that he should build them
another church in the crowded neighbourhood of Portobello
Road ; in fact they were in negotiation for the land, a site close
by St. Charles's College, Ladbroke Grove Road. In June Bentley
was being urged to let them have the plans for the church as soon
as possible, and in July he was supplied with the requirements of
a presbytery of eight rooms to adjoin it. Ultimately the whole
scheme came to naught, possibly on account of urgently pressing
needs in the Kensal New Town district of the Oblates' large
mission.
Twenty years later, in 1897, Bentley prepared plans for a
small Catholic church at Coleraine, Ireland, in a very simple style,
to consist of a nave and chancel, without aisle, a transept on
the north and a Lady Chapel on the south side. This commission
likewise never came to fruition. Last, but by no means least,
must be noted the superb Gothic cathedral for Brooklyn,
U.S.A., for which he prepared the complete designs in 1898-9,
and whose erection was frustrated by his untimely decease.
CHAPTER XVIII
ECCLESIASTICAL ARCHITECTURE (ll)
(a) Additions and Alterations to Churches : St. Mary of the Angels, Bayswater — Church
of the Assumption, Warwick Street — Our Lady of Victories, Clapham — St. John's,
Hammersmith, (b) Erection or Enlargement of Conventual and Private Chapels:
Conventual chapels : Paul's House, Taunton — Franciscan Convent, Portobello Road
— Franciscan Convent, Braintree — Other chapels : Beaumont college. Old Windsor
— Dray cot Cemetery.
In this chapter are assembled notes concerning some churches
that underwent structural modifications of greater or less im-
portance at Bentley's hands subsequently to 1870, as well as of
certain private or semi-private ecclesiastical buildings erected or
enlarged by him. Such churches in the metropolis number four,
three being Catholic and one Anglican. The chapels dealt with
are, with one exception, in the provinces, three being con-
ventual, one scholastic, and one a mortuary chapel. With this
brief introduction, we may proceed to discuss these works in
chronological order.
Church of St. Mary of the Angels, Bayswater
Bentley's structural and decorative additions to this Bays-
water church, extending over a period of more than three decades,
afford, as Mr. T. J. Willson observed in his short memoir, " in-
teresting study in architectural variety and progress, and are no
less remarkable on account of their altars, glass and metal work."
Therein, from the north aisle thrown out in 1869, with its char-
acteristic transitional thirteenth-century French details, is unrolled
before the student a veritable scroll of development. In the
second south aisle, built 1872-4, he will make acquaintance with
the architect's transitional stage, the period when he was fast
441
442 WESTxMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
reverting to the native style of that same century. The httle
chapel of the Relics, termination of the south aisle of the chancel,
executed a year or two later, will carry him yet a step further in
this compendium of development, until in the magnificent Late
Decorated chapels of the north-east side he will recognize the
revelation of the architect's taste and power of expression at their
zenith.
Satisfactorily to relate the history of this work, it must be
recalled that the unfinished and roofless church had, in rough and
temporary fashion, been rendered merely habitable in 1857, when
taken over by the newly founded Oblate community as the head-
quarters of their enterprise. Their founder and first superior,
Monsignor Henry Edward Manning, with his rooted distaste
for Gothic architecture, did his best, we are told, to transform the
interior into the semblance of an Italian church by hanging
curtains and pictures over the traceried windows. Manning
became Archbishop of Westminster in 1865.
When the late Dr. Robert Butler was chosen superior of St.
Mary of the Angels in 1872, he proceeded without loss of time to
the completion of the church, and commissioned Bentley to put
up the fine timbered roof over nave, chancel, and aisles, and to
plaster the walls. Previously the bare brickwork had been
hidden with a coating of whitewash. A system of heating was
also installed, and the church illuminated throughout by gas.
The small mortuary chapel at the west end under the tower, whose
floor is lower than that of the nave by five or six steps, was also
roofed and brought into its present condition. Bentley utilized
one of the old stone altars in the church for this simple shrine
dedicated to the Holy Souls, and enclosed it with low iron railings.
He also erected the rood beam and its suspended crucifix above
the chancel. A new porch, about then contemplated and de-
signed, was however never carried out, while the tower, which
Bentley always thought might be completed as a tower rather
than a spire, as in Mr. Meyer's original design, remains to this day
unfinished.
ECCLESIASTICAL ARCHITECTURE
443
In spite of the north extension of 1869, the building soon
proved inadequate for the rapidly expanding congregation, so
that within three years it became necessary to build again, and
the new south aisle was put in hand. This aisle terminates east-
ward in a Lady Chapel of two bays, having a timbered roof
in four cants ; its principal beam is borne on finely sculptured
3 ■ MARV or T-( ANCEt-S BXVSVVATER
CHAPEL or T»t REUC3 - - -
t.ONIMruOt*4Ab aCCTIQ
Fig. 42. — Chapel of the Relics, St. Maby of the Angels, Bayswateb.
corbels representing our Lady (on one side) and the Archangel
of the Annunciation (opposite), from whom she appears to receive
the Divine message. The spirited and graceful details of the
sculptiired leafage of the capitals and the elegant clustered shaft-
ing rising from octagonal bases are worthy of attention and study.
So, too, are the blue and white tiled pavement with fleur de lys,
the wrought iron communion rails and grille (1876), and the stained
glass in the two double-light windows, representing four Old
444 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
Testament types of the Blessed Virgin, Eve, Ruth, Judith, and
Esther.
The white marble altar of the Lady Chapel owes, it is hardly
necessary to remark, nothing to Bentley's touch. The aisle is
lighted by eight trefoil-headed lancets arranged in pairs, the wall
beneath being broken up with a twelve-fold arcading, forming the
windows and entrances to four confessionals. Doubtless to preserve
uniformity, Bentley supported this aisle, as that on the opposite
side of the church, on circular pillars ; they deviate however in
the shape of the abacus, which in this later aisle is octagonal,
and the ceiling here is vaulted, while that of the north aisle is flat.
Extension was carried farther by means of an eastward pro-
longation of the original south aisle to form a chancel aisle, ar-
ranged as a chapel in which to enshrine certain relics brought
from Rome by the Cardinal-Founder. This chapel of the Relics,
appropriately dedicated to St. Helen and St, Mary Magdalene,
those two sainted women especially revered for their veneration
and care for sacred things, owes its existence to the generosity
of the Rev. W. Wheeler, one of the Oblate priests.
A relic aumbry, 7 ft. 4 J in. wide and 3 ft. high, built into
the wall above the altar, is necessarily a central featvu'e in the
equipment of the chapel. Its red doors lead the eye upwards to
the appropriate sculptured representation of the Holy Cross, the
Relic of Relics. The framework of the cupboard is gilt, and
the dull Indian red ground of the doors, powdered with golden
suns and pomegranates tinctured in green and gold, is crossed
by the elaborate wi'ought iron hinges. The inner side of the
doors, hinged, screenwise, in two folds, is adorned with four
figures of saints, painted by Mr. Westlake ; the shallow interior
of the aumbry being divided by a series of mouldings and shelves
into compartments of varying size. Two recesses, right and left
of the altar, designed to accommodate similar aumbries, have
in recent years been filled with oak and glass cupboards of in-
different design, brought from St, Charles's College when its days
as the Oblates' school were numbered.
ECCLESIASTICAL ARCHITECTURE 445
Above the aumbries runs a broad frieze of Caen stone, bearing
demi-figures of angels sculptured in the round and linked by
shields supported between them. The shields display the Instru-
ments of the Passion. From the frieze the sculptured details
are carried up the east wall in the form of a tall and slender ci-uci-
fix, its shaft mounting between the windows till above them
its arms are flung wide across the tympanum of the arch. Up
the outer window jambs soar other slender angular shafts, carry-
ing emblem-bearing angels. Among so much here that is of
interest, attention may perhaps be especially directed to the
sculptured masonry of the sacristy entrances, one in the south
wall of this chapel, the other near by in the aisle (fig. 42).
The chapel of the Relics was completed in 1876 by the laying
of the encaustic tile paving, the stained glass (elsewhere described),
and a wrought iron grille and communion rails. The altar, a
poor specimen, is, like the high altar, one of the church's original
fitments. Father Rawes, who took an enormous interest in this
chapel, was keen on Bentley designing a new one, remarking, char-
acteristically : " St. Mary Magdalene deserves a good altar, and
I think that a very beautiful thing might be made of that corner
of the church." Bentley certainly achieved this last ideal (although
the altar, for one reason or another, never emerged beyond the
region of desire) ; it is to be deplored that a lack of light, owing to
the proximity of surrounding buildings, renders it often difficult
to discern the chapel's merits. Equally pleasing is the exterior
detail of the east elevation, notably the sculptured masonry
below the window-sill and the paterae on the stone string below
the gable.
Some ten years later further enlargements on the north side
were put in hand, the building being prolonged beyond the two
existing aisles to form a spacious and dignified transept and
eastward chapels. The style here adopted is Late Decorated.
The chapel forming the north aisle of the chancel, and opening
thereto by a wide arch, is dedicated to the Holy Ghost. It has
a vaulted roof, with ribs springing from a broad moulded cornice.
II— 8
446 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
The three-light window, remarkable for its tracery, is filled with
stained glass representing the Day of Pentecost ; and a wrought
iron grille encloses the chapel on the sanctuary side.
At the time of Bentley's death a temporary altar and a plain
reredos did duty, for over-pressure of work and failing health
had prevented the accomplishment of his long-deferred intention
of replacing them with something worthy of the surroundings.
The present marble altar and reredos are from the designs of Mr.
George Power, who also erected (1912) the wrought iron screen
between this and St. Charles's Chapel adjoining, and put down
the marble mosaic pavement. A mural tablet records that this
completion of the chapel was a memorial to the late Monsignor
W. H. Manning (the Cardinal's nephew) given by the Association
of Old Students of St. Charles's College, with which for a long
period he was intimately connected.
A dominating sense of spacious dignity impresses one's entry
to the beautiful shrine dedicated to St. Charles Borromeo, irradi-
ated by a flood of silvery light from its noble east window of five
lights and the three lesser two-light openings framed in the
arcading of the north wall. The opposite and similar arcading
opens into the chapel of the Holy Ghost. The union of breadth
with delicacy of treatment in this arcading, in the vaulted ceiling
with its brattished cornice and carved bosses, in the superb metal-
work of the communion rail and electric light standards, will in
full degree be appreciated by the discerning visitor. Here again
cruel circumstances prevented the harmonious accomplishment
of the work ; and sketches for altar and reredos, made in 1899,
never materialized. The present altar, from the designs of the
late Mr. Tasker, was put up in 1903, the stone and marble
reredos by Hardman & Powell being a little later in date.
The stained glass in the chapel of St. Charles, wholly by
Bentley, is representative of his finest period (see page 525).
Affixed to the wall beneath the side windows is a large and shallow
oaken aumbry, carved with the exquisite feeling and delicacy of
English fourteenth-century work Bentley so fully understood ;
ECCLESIASTICAL ARCHITECTURE 447
and with which the wrought iron hinges and lock plates are in
keeping. The reliquary contains a relic very precious to the
Oblate community, namely a large green chasuble once constantly
used by St. Charles.
There still remain to be mentioned two alabaster altars of
early date, the only ones by Bentley in this church ; they occupy
his two side chapels in the north aisle. In that dedicated to the
Sacred Heart and erected in 1874, we believe some of the materials
of an older altar were utilized ; its pink marble frontal, powdered
with the incised ray- surrounded golden letters I.H.S., cants back at
the sides, where the ends of the mensa are borne on two serpentine
shafts ; their caps and bases and the plinth and coping of the
frontal are all of polished alabaster. The gradines are of a darker
green marble, to which a light green for the centre slab of the
dossal is in effective contrast ; the lateral portions of the dossal
are in red marble. The reredos, built of alabaster and enriched
with inlays of vitreous mosaic, is crowned with a flexir de lys
cresting. Its three traceried panels contain paintings by
N. H. J. Westlake, a figure of the Sacred Heart in the centre,
with St. John and St. Clare on either side. The four lancet
windows in the north aisle contain stained glass of thirteenth-
century type by Bentley and Westlake.
The neighbouring altar of St. Joseph was erected in 1874
by certain grateful parishioners, in memory of the Rev. George
Beckwith Yard, who died September 22nd, 1873. The alabaster
frontal is divided into two square panels, each again contain-
ing a quatrefoil wherein are depicted two incidents in the
life of Joseph, the ante-type, in Egypt. St. Joseph himself is
represented in the central panel of the reredos beneath a triangular-
headed canopy. Three small paintings occupy the triple arcading
at the foot of this panel, which, together with the frontal paintings,
were all by Westlake's hand. The alabaster reredos, powdered
with daisies in marble inlay, is headed by a moulded frieze inset
with quatrefoil panels of green marble, and a Caen stone cornice
sculptured with lilies in low relief. On the back slab of the
448 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
alabaster credence and piscina is an inscription recording the
death of Father Yard.
Church of the Assumption, Warwick Street
In Warwick Street, a short shop-lined bye-way between
Regent Street and Golden Square, there is a small red brick
edifice, built flush with the adjoining houses, which, in its humble
guise of eighteenth-century domesticity, seems to shrink from
attracting the notice of passers-by. This unpretentious build-
ing has nearer concern with history than its appearance would
seem to warrant, for it served for a long period as the chapel
of the Bavarian Embassy in London, the adjoining house
fronting on Golden Square being the ambassador's residence.
His official seat, adorned with a royal crown, still remains in the
north gallery of the chapel, where his place was of yore. In penal
days as many as thirteen priests were maintained, under the title
of chaplains, within the shelter of the Embassy walls, whence,
safe from proscription, they carried on their quiet ministrations
among the Catholic people of London. At that time, that is,
before the year 1780, the chapel, not more than half its present
size, was screened from the public eye, and almost from its cogni-
zance, by stable buildings enclosed from the street by a high wall ;
but it was not hidden securely enough to escape the iconoclastic
fury of the Gordon rioters, who within a few tragic days in that
year, 1780, wrought such immense havoc on Catholic property
in the metropolis. The Bavarian Embassy Chapel, which was
wrecked, suffered severely from fire, and having to be rebuilt
was planned on a larger scale, and re-opened in 1787.
As regards the exterior of this second structiure, it is of red
brick, with a gabled west end fronting Warwick Street, entered
through three unpretentious doorways with glazed fanlights. Of
the round-headed windows, glazed with square panes, three in
the west front have been bricked up. Internally the main features
were the galleries at the sides and west end, carried by iron pillars
(posts would be a better term), a sculptured altarpiece of stone
ECCLESIASTICAL ARCHITECTURE 449
over the high altar, and a disproportionately large organ in the
western gallery. A row of round-topped windows at the gallery
level provided sufficient illumination.
In 1874 the rector, the late Hon. and Rev. D. Gilbert Talbot,
approached Bentley with a view to preparing a scheme for im-
proving the mean little building. His plan, in due course presented,
proposed to retain the side walls while remodelling the building
on Byzantine lines, by the addition of an eastern apse and the
formation of side aisles with galleries. The eastward extension
being agreed on as the first part, at least, of the desired improve-
ment to be proceeded with, excavations for foundations revealed
the existence of two deep and ancient cellars, of unknown history,
entailing heavy expense in rendering the substructure safe. Possi-
bly this preparatory work made inroads overdeep into the funds
available ; anyway, whatever the reason, the rest of the scheme
fell into abeyance, the apse only being built, and the nave remained
as before, except that the side galleries were cut back, in a curve,
some distance from the chancel steps, a device whereby the con-
venience and appearance of the interior were greatly enhanced.
It should be added that the roof was raised to suit the proportions
of the new apse. Also it will be noticed that the pilasters to
carry the proposed nave arcading had already been placed in
position on the apse responds before the continuation of the
scheme fell through.
The floor of the sanctuary was then paved with marble mosaic.
A small shrine and altar of the Blessed Virgin was opened at the
same time to the south of the apse, against the east wall. The
altar contains, we believe, Bentley's first essaj^ in the treatment of
the figvu-e in mosaic, the main subject being the Adoration of the
Magi, forming the altar frontal. The technical handling is minute,
smooth, and regular as befits a space so limited and a position so
proximate to the eye. One feels assured that, a few years later,
Bentley would not have dreamed of employing mosaic in this
connection, having recognized and accepted the unquestionably
greater appropriateness and durability of opus sectile for all
450 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
positions liable to damage by cleaning or otherwise. This mosaic
is, however, well cared for and in extraordinarily perfect condi-
tion ; it is enframed in mouldings of white marble.
The altar, constructed mainly of alabaster slabs arranged in
courses, has super-altars of Derbyshire fossil marble, and a dossal or
low reredos of alabaster, projecting slightly to form a pedestal for
the statue. Mouldings divide the reredos into five square panels ;
that at the end on the right is filled with a tiny mosaic, depicting
Christ and His Sacred Heart, and is inscribed " Paray-le-Monial."
The corresponding panel in the opposite end pictures our Lady
enshrined within the grotto, and is inscribed with the name of
that other famous pilgrimage, " Lourdes." Irish green marble
is used for the three remaining panels, bordered narrowly with
mosaic, which, arranged in a geometric design, also adorns the
narrow side panels of the pedestal.
The wall above and surrounding the statues is covered with
a truly appalling display of silver ex votos (chiefly hearts of
varying sizes) in glass cases, a species of " decoration," naturally,
abhorred by Bentley, and for which, later, to a new rector, he
laughingly disclaimed responsibility. It appears, however, that,
being dear to many pious worshippers, the silver hearts are likely to
retain their position.
The apse when first built was in part temporarily plastered,
and the vault decorated with golden stars painted on a deep
blue ground. As a portion of the ultimate decoration, however,
a series of stone pilasters with delicately sculptured caps were
fixed to divide the upper part of the wall surface into nine panels.
Subsequently, some other hand was responsible for the filling in
of these spaces with mosaic (single figures on gold backgrounds),
the Blessed Virgin and Child being in the centre, with a pot of
lilies in the narrow panel on either side, and three saints on
either hand. The figures on the left represent St. Gilbert, St.
Gregory, and St. Joseph ; those on the right, St. John the Evan-
gelist, St. Edward, King and Confessor, and St. Cecilia.
In 1900 the Rev. A. Pownall, then newly installed as rector.
ECCLESIASTICAL ARCHITECTURE 451
consulted Bentley with regard to the completion of the apse
decoration, when it was resolved to line the lower walls and outline
the archivolt with marble, and finish the vault with mosaic. Of
the lower marble work, fixed just before he died, Bentley never saw
the completion ; it consists of a series of vertical " opened-out "
slabs of Greek cipollino, springing from a deep plain footing of
Derbyshire fossil marble and interspaced with narrow strips of
white marble, emphasized, with excellent effect, by a pineapple
design inlaid in black composition, strongly reminiscent of certain
details in the marble work at Westminster Cathedral. The slabs
of the clear green marble are boldly figured and headed with a
narrow dentil string of white marble, which unites the mural
decoration of the lower stage to that of the upper.
All the subsequent work has been carried out under the super-
intendence of the Bentley firm by Mr. J. A. Marshall, by whom
the stone pilasters of the second stage have recently been replaced
by pavonazzo replicas to carry a deep entablature of white marble,
whose frieze is enriched with a band of precious Numidian red
with alternating circles and squares outlined in gold mosaic. Each
circle is inset with a disc of verde antico. The mosaic lily-pot
panels above referred to have been replaced by fine slabs of the
grey-green marble known as campan vert. The entablature marks
the springing of the apse roof, for whose mosaic decoration
Bentley had left sketches, from which the cartoons were prepared
by Mr. George Daniels. To complete the scheme the archivolt
was outlined with a series of white marble mouldings, carved and
relieved with a band of campan vert, inset with lozenges of red
marble bordered with gold mosaic.
The subject of the roof mosaics, the Coronation of the Blessed
Virgin in Heaven, occupies the centre of the semi-dome, and depicts
the two principal figures against a ray-encircled, star-studded azure
vault, the surrounding groundwork being gold. Christ, seated
at one end of a low golden throne, extends a jewelled crown over
the head of His Mother, who has left her seat by His side to kneel
at His feet. Gabriel, with a lily, stands upon a cloud, a little to
452 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
the left ; Michael with a palm branch is similarly placed on the
right. The Holy Spirit, a white dove, emerges from celestial
spheres above, whence depend, to the base of the semi-dome, slender
green garlands, following the curve of the arch. The inscription
at the base reads : " Maria Virgo assumpta est ad ^thereum
Thalamum in quo Rex Regum stellato Sedes solio."
This mosaic, executed by Mr. George Bridge, is in technique
comparable to those in the chapel of the Holy Souls at West-
minster Cathedral ; perhaps the joints of the tesserse are somewhat
less bold in treatment than in the latter case.
Later works designed by Mr. Marshall in the church are a
pair of light green pedestals for statues just within the chancel
railings, the red marble step on which are fixed his gilt metal
communion rails (the gift of the Duke of Norfolk) a brass mural
tablet on the south wall recording the names of former rectors,
the painting of nave and gallery, and the simple oak benches,
adapted from a more elaborate design of Bentley's. These last
were mainly given by the Rev. A. Pownall, the late Missionary
Rector.
Our Lady of Victories, Clapham
To this Early Decorated stone church, built by Wardell in
1852, Bentley's contributions (of certain quite minor matters)
dated, it has already been noted, from the early 'sixties, the seed-
time of his friendship with the Redemptorist Fathers. To the
affectionate regard into which that soon ripened we may attribute,
in large measure, the decision taken when he married in 1874,
to make his home at Clapham, then a sufficiently pleasant and
rustic suburb. Four years after this event, we find Bentley at
work on a pedestal for the statue of St. Alphonsus in the Clapham
church. Thenceforth the passing of the years was to bring him
into an ever-growing intimacy with St. Mary's, on which, for
as long as the building may endure, his seal is now indelibly
impressed.
As Wardell planned it, the church consisted of nave, chancel.
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i'LATK LXJII. — S. Mary's, Clapham : Shrine of Our Lady of Terfetual Succour.
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ECCLESIASTICAL ARCHITECTURE 453
two aisles, and tower, and was entered from a porch and great
door at the west end, and another large porch beneath the tower
on the north side. The south aisle was prolonged eastwards
into a chapel, dedicated to St. Alphonsus, forming a chancel
aisle, the corresponding space on the north side of the chancel
being allotted to sacristies on the ground floor, with a private
oratory above for community use, whence through a pair of fine
traceried windows pierced in the sanctuary wall a view was obtained
of what was going on in the church. The north aisle, therefore,
terminated on a line with the north-west pier of the sanctuary,
while against its eastern wall rose a stone altar dedicated to St.
Joseph.
In 1883 it was decided to provide increased congregational
accommodation by removing the confessional boxes of the north
aisle and extending therefrom a side chapel to be dedicated to
our Lady of Perpetual Succour. This chapel, consisting of two
bays and a recess for a confessional, is opened to the aisle by a
pair of arches, owning similitude of detail with the nave arcading
and yet, in subtle differentiation, revealing the inevitable trans-
mutation of Bentley's touch. The shrine within is a veritable
gem, which " small in size, but of unusual unity and complete-
ness . . . has evoked general admiration, and is held up by
some artists to be its author's chef-cT ceiwre. Its floor, its wall
and ceiling, its traceried windows and their storied glass are alike
harmonious and delicate, though not refined to any approach
towards weakness. The altar, reredos, canopy, and brattishing
show equal invention and fitness" ^ (Plates LXII and LXIII).
Since the photographs convey a very fair impression of the
general arrangement and details, we will confine ourselves mainly
to an account of the colour scheme, describing verbally only
those structural details not pictorially revealed. The three
triple-light windows, with geometric tracery (the centre one is
the old aisle window refixed), contain stained glass representing
nine Old Testament types of the Blessed Virgin. Coloured glass
^ Memoir by the late T. J. Willson.
454 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
is used so sparingly in the composition, and so silvery golden is
the effect produced by the preponderance of white glass painted
and stained, that they in no wise interfere with the delicate and
harmonious tones of the mural decoration.
The chapel measures 20 ft, long, 9 ft. wide, and 15| ft. high
to its flat coffered ceiling, supported on three moulded and decor-
ated beams, the intervening spaces between which are each further
subdivided into six rectangular panels, affording suitable surfaces
for polychrome decoration. Representations of the six-winged
seraphim of the Apocalypse — " with two wings they covered their
faces, with two their feet, and with two they flew " — occupy the
half-dozen squares above the altar ; while in the twelve remaining
coffers, twelve of the titles under which the Holy Mother is in-
voked are devised on scrolls surrounding radiant suns, and in
turn enclosed by conventional rose wreaths. Pale tones of green,
gold sparingly used, and a light brownish red are the prevailing
ceiling tints, the ground being white.
Naturally, the supreme objective of the decorative scheme
will be the altarpiece and its surroundings, to which every sub-
sidiary idea leads up. We shall see that nothing in the ornament
is meaningless or superfluous ; colour and pattern alike proclaim
the underlying mystic significance. The deep blackish blue,
emblematic of those deep waters of sorrow wherein our Lady
learned to understand and sympathize with human griefs, seems
to surge up towards the white above, as dark waves crested with
the white foam of purity. Unceasingly the suffering human
heart cries from these walls the " Ora Pro Nobis " of a bitter
need to the Mystical Rose, the Lily of Purity, the saddened Mother
who looks down with those sorrowful eyes limned long centuries
ago.
Few and low-toned are the colours and devices whereby this
impression of mystical splendour and significance is produced.
The dark blue of the dado from floor to window-sills is powdered
sparingly with the golden monogram M.R., alternating with little
greenish-white pomegranates. Piers and arches are painted a
ECCLESIASTICAL ARCHITECTURE 455
warm-toned white, the concavities being dark blue, and the convex
mouldings treated with horizontal banding in blue and white. The
pomegranate is repeated wherever the dark blue is the ground
colour. Round the arch faces and in the spandrels are repeated
again the titles of the Blessed Virgin as recited in her Litany.
Derbyshire fossil marble composes the altar base and mensa ; the
frontal framework and the reredos, containing a splendidly gilt and
burnished triptych, are carved in wood, richly gilt and painted.
Exquisitely delicate is the treatment of the seven emblem-bearing
angels in the traceried panelling of the dossal, and of the kneeling
seraphs painted on the wings of the golden triptych which encloses
the picture of miraculous fame ; and effective, too, the juxtaposi-
tion of this frame upon the deep blue mural background patterned
with a formal design in lighter blue and gold. The photograph
shows the graceful manner in which the shafts of the reredos
expand into the fan-vaulted canopy, with its intricately wrought
brattishing. The three paintings of the frontal are executed on
a removable slate slab, and represent three incidents in the life
of Christ and His Mother.
A brass tablet set in the marble floor begs the suffrages of the
faithful for William John Louis, who died in 1885, and to whose
memory the chapel was dedicated and the altar erected by his
widow, Jane Louis, in 1886. The gilt wrought iron grille to
screen the altar from the aisle was added in 1887. The stained
glass is in memory of Anne Camilla Macdonald. The chapel is
likewise furnished with a confessional box of fumed oak, moulded
and carved ; an exquisitely graceful altar crucifix of silver,
tortoiseshell, and ivory ; and a silver hanging lamp, all made to
Bentley's designs.
The erstwhile countrified suburb of Clapham, in common
with similar districts, soon became affected and vastly changed
in the era of building development in greater London, with
the result, as regards the Redemptorists' numerically increasing
mission, that the pressure on the seating power of their church
had become in 1891 an acute problem, demanding speedy solu-
456 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
tion. The clergy had been housed for forty years or so in a pair
of early Georgian dwellings, closely adjacent to the north-east
corner of the church, and surrounded by a large garden. These
houses had been patched up from time to time until not only
was their condition found to be fundamentally unsound, but
they had become really unsuitable and inadequate for community
requirements. It was decided therefore to pull down the houses
and sacrifice a large slice of the garden by erecting monastic
buildings along its southern boundary. This done, the necessary
enlargement of the church could be accomplished by means of a
" north " transept to be built upon the ground whereon the old
houses had stood.
A thorough examination of the church fabric undertaken at this
time revealed the existence of a serious state of affairs in regard
to its exterior masonry. The Caen stone dressings had become
grievously weathered, and in parts positively unsafe. The urgent
work of external restoration was, therefore, put in hand at the
same time as monastic building operations ; it entailed a vast
erection of scaffolding, since the decayed masonry of tower and
spire had to be removed and replaced stone by stone. Similar
repairs were carried out in the west and north (tower) porches,
where the sculpture was entirely renewed, while the plinth and
footings generally were made up with an artificial stone of extreme
hardness and durability, and the eaves and gutters everywhere
made sound.
Directly the monastery was available for habitation (towards
the close of 1892) the building of the transept began. The eastern
arch of the north aisle was opened up while the removal of the
sacristies and private oratory opened the sanctuary arcading
on that side, and left the space they had occupied free to be in-
cluded in the transeptal extension (Plates LXII and LXIV).
The transept, measuring 51 ft. long by 24 ft. wide, consists of
two "aisles," arranged in four bays, and is entered from a porch
at the north-west corner. A clergy tribune occupies the " north "
end, and beneath it are a grille-enclosed baptistery and the inner
ECCLESIASTICAL ARCHITECTURE 457
entrance lobby. On the "east " side is recessed a chapel dedicated
to St. Joseph, beyond which is the sacristy entrance ; above it
the wall is pierced by a pair of geometric windows which light
the private oratory ; these are old work, transferred from their
former position in the sanctuary north wall. It will be observed
that Bentley has, in the tracery of the new windows, and indeed
in the detail generally, followed the later developments of the
Decorated period.
The building relies for its effect chiefly on fine proportion ;
simplicity being ordained as the keynote of the detail, since limita-
tion of expenditure ruled as the restraining power, as is usually
the case in Catholic ecclesiastical architecture in this country.
Nevertheless, Bentley claimed that he had stood out victoriously
for the indulgence of one or two " extravagances." We may
point, for example, to the exquisitely sculptured masonry of the
crocketed ogee above the inner doorway ; and the carved angels
in pine, painted and gilt, of the cornice in St. Joseph's Chapel.'
The stone altar in this chapel is that removed from the north
aisle ; Bentley subsequently treated it with polychrome and gilt
decoration — rather weak, we venture to tliink, and not as successful
as his colour schemes usually were. At the external angle where
aisle and transept meet is constructed a small chamber for use
as a registry, and a confessional specially designed for the con-
venience of the deaf. They are entered by small doorways in
both transept and aisle ; in the latter case the door is beneath
a window on whose lower lights the new masonry has unavoidably
encroached.
Wrought iron grilles with gates screen the sanctuary from the
transept ; they were designed a year or two before, but not made
till some months after the architect's death, to whom one section
is a memorial, erected by his widow. The transept contains
several examples of his stained glass ; the windows in the chapel
of St. Joseph were painted in 1894 ; that dedicated to Blessed
^ The mural decoration of this chapel is by some other hand ; obviously Bentley had
no part in it.
458 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
Gerard Majella, a Redemptorist lay brother, dates from 1899.
The lovely little " angel " window above the confessional in the
north aisle was also fixed in 1894.
A good deal of talk centred from time to time round the ques-
tion of a new font, and Bentley was, we believe, invited more
than once to design one. It was characteristic that he should
refuse on sentimental grounds to have anything to do with the
supersession of the old font, whose sacred associations had fifty
years of growth. All the architect's eleven children had been
baptized therein. His representations carried the day, and in
due coiu-se the old font was moved to the new baptistery. The
superb tabernacle of the high altar, finished shortly after his
decease, is fully described in Chapter XXII (Metalwork).
The transept was furnished with fumed oak benches, designed
on simple lines to suit their surroundings. These, in a cheapened
and meagre fashion, have recently been " copied " for the nave ;
an example of a good design spoiled by poor handling.
To the architect's son, Osmond Bentley, has been entrusted
the building and decoration of a new side chapel in the south
aisle, dedicated to Blessed Gerard Majella. It should be added that
certain items were also designed and carried out by Mr. Marshall
within a few years of Bentley's decease ; such are the sanctuary
lamp and the inner lobby of the tower porch, with its leather-
padded doors.
St. John's, Hammersmith
To this Anglican church, a red and yellow brick building in
a style transitional from Early English to Decorated, erected by
Butterfield in 1859, Bentley made in 1898 a small addition,
greatly to the satisfaction of his friend, who had then retired from
practice.^ We refer to the extension of the south chancel aisle
to form a chapel for daily celebrations ; which, although designed
' William Butterfield 's days were then drawing to their close ; he died in 1900, aged
eighty-Bix.
Plate LXIV, — S. JIahy'?, Clapham : TEANSErx.
45 S]
Plate LXV. — Convent Chai'ei,, Ukatntrek : (.'kancel.
UM
ECCLESIASTICAL ARCHITECTURE 459
to be sufficiently in keeping with the style of the church, possesses
a refinement of purpose and beauty of structural detail and or-
nament within and without for which one may search in vain in
the main body of the building.
Opening from the aisle, a finely moulded arch borne on triple
shafting reveals the charming proportions of the little chapel,
which receives light through two windows, one of three lights
above the altar and a south window of two lights. The roof
groining meets beneath a sculptured boss, displaying the sacred
monogram ; this and the stone credence, with its beautiful ogee
drawn up into a leafy finial and flower paterae sculptured on
the mouldings, will, among other fine details, attract merited
attention and praise.
The late fourteenth-century triptych altarpiece, supported on
a Siena marble dossal, was designed by Bentley in 1898, and
painted by the artist Mr. Innes Fripp. The subject of the middle
panel is the Adoration of the Magi and of the Shepherds ; the
Blessed Virgin, a gracious golden-haired figure, clad in blue mantle
and white robe, is seated, the centre of the group, supporting the
Holy Child, undraped, upon her right arm. A rich crimson
cloth, gold-embroidered, is suspended by means of tasselled cords
behind her seat, and flows down over the steps of the dais on
which it is set. A fair-haired angel with silver wings attends her
on either side. On the left are grouped the Kings ; on the right
the Shepherds. The wings of the triptych are each painted with
an angel and a group of saints ; St. Gabriel appears in the left
wing, with his lily branch ; St. Michael, in the right, wearing
body armour and bearing a pennoned lance. The gilt frame of
the altarpiece is a beautiful example of carved and fretted
joinery.
The wooden altar, with a quintuple arcading in its frontal,
decorated in polychrome, was designed by Mr. J. A. Marshall, and
together with the chapel paving of encaustic tiles and stone, and
the marble predella (yellow and grey) was put in to the memory
of the Rev. R. B. Fearon, seven years c\irate of this parish, and
460 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
his brother, who met their death by Hghtning on the VVetterhorn
on August 20th, 1902.
Other works by Bentley in this church are the turreted and
painted organ case on the north side of the chancel and the
polychrome decoration of the chancel arcading, designed to knit
the whole into a harmonious and homogeneous scheme. The
litany desk, some candlesticks, and a cross were also designed in
1898.
Chapel at Paul's House, Taunton.
The additions made in 1871 to Paul's House, Taunton,^ a
Convent of the Congregation of Perpetual Adoration of the Blessed
Sacrament, consist of a wing of two floors extending at right
angles from the old building to the extremity of the ground,
bounded by the road leading to the town. The ground floor
contains refectory, dispensary, little refectory, and nuns' parlour,
connected with the convent by a corridor ; and visitors' room
and parlour approached from the entrance of the turret stair
which gives access to the visitors' chapel and priests' sacristy on
the floor above. On the upper floor are the nuns' choir and
sacristy, entered through a lobby from the first-floor landing of
the convent ; and the sanctuary, priests' sacristy, and visitors'
chapel from the top of the turret stair before mentioned.
The sanctuary, in Early English style, is a prolongation of the
nuns' choir, a continuous and unbroken roof covering both. They
are separated by an oak screen divided into five compartments
filled in with light iron scrollwork ; and are enclosed from the
visitors' chapel by a moulded arch of two orders supported on
corbels and enclosed with a wrought iron grille. The side wall
of the sanctuary is pierced by three lancet windows, two of which
are coupled, with a slender detached column supporting the
enclosing arch, and the end wall by a triplet of very long and
' Th.s account of this early work was written mainly by Bentley himself ; we have
merely interpolated the details of the mural decoration with which he subsequently
completed the chapel.
ECCLESIASTICAL ARCHITECTURE
461
narrow lancets filled with stained glass representing the Queen of
Angels and the angelic hierarchy.
Immediately below, the high altar and reredos, executed in
alabaster and .
marble, occupy a
space 12 ft. in height
by 14 ft. in width.
The frontal, on
either corner, has a
green marble shaft
with moulded base
and carved cap ; the
space between con-
tains three cusped
panels filled with
paintings of our
Lady, the Lily, her
emblem, and the
angel Gabriel on a
gold ground, separ-
ated by smaller
panels inscribed re-
spectively in letters
of gold "Ave,
Gratia Plena Do-
minus tecum " and
" Fiat mihi se-
cundum V e r b u m
tuum."
The gradines,
altar slab, and dossal are worked in green serpentine and Hopton
Wood marbles. In the centre of the first gradine is placed the
tabernacle ^ of copper gilt, on the door of which is an engraved
' Its beautifully wrought key was the architect's Christmas present to tlie community
in 1872, likewise the holy-water stoup near the door of the ante-choir.
II— 9
B^o. 43. — Paul's House Convent, Taunton: Sanctuary Sobeen.
462 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
and enamelled figure of our Lord, enthroned, exposing His five
Wounds, surrounded with the sacred monograms encircled in
rays and set with precious stones, all within a frame of pure-
toned alabaster moulded and inlaid with gold mosaic. Above
rises the throne, likewise of alabaster, consisting of a richly
moulded and cusped panel supported on clustered shafts having
moulded caps and bases, within which is a carved diaper sur-
rounded by a band of gold mosaic and an inner panel to contain
a painting of the Agnus Dei on a gold ground. An elaborate
canopy executed in Caen stone, surmounted by a painted and
gilt figure of St. Michael carrying a flaming sword and with
outspread wings, completes this part of the design.
On a line with the throne and forming the reredos, are six
panels, three on each side, carrying a cornice of foliage delicately
and nervously carved. The panels are filled with paintings
executed by Mr. N. H. J. Westlake representing the Blessed
Virgin, St. Joseph, St. John, St. Mary Magdalene, St. Matthew,
and St. Thomas Aquinas.
The walls of the sanctuary are faced with stone ashlar and
the floor laid with encaustic tiles ; these walls were plastered
and elaborately decorated with painting in 1878. The dado,
painted to represent a green drapery powdered with gold floriated
crosses, is surmounted by a band of foliated ornament in which
crowned shields painted with chalices and the emblems of the
Blessed Sacrament are set at intervals. The wall above is like-
wise powdered with crosses, while around and above the
window are six medallions containing figures of angels and
saints.
The sanctuary roof, as well as that of the nuns' choir, has
rafters framed and braced, resting on a moulded cornice, and the
spaces between coated with plaster. In the sanctuary these spaces
are decorated with golden stars, the ribs being painted and gilt,
and the frieze painted with three-quarter figiu-cs of angels, bearing
scrolls. Ten full-length figures of angels with the instruments of
the Passion occupy the soffit of the sanctuary arch ; beneath
ECCLESIASTICAL ARCHITECTURE 463
which, supported by the oak screen, is the rood, with the figures
of our Lady and St. John, also carved in oak.
Two groups of three lancets light the nuns' choir, forming on
the inside an arcade borne on slender shafting and occupying
nearly the whole of the wall between the string and cornice
levels. In the opposite wall are two doors leading to the convent
and the nuns' sacristy ; and in that at the end a small window
to enable the sick sisters to hear Mass. The stalls and organ
case are of oak, the instrument being by the late Mr. T. C. Lewis.
On the left of the sanctuary, arranged transeptally, is the
visitors' chapel, roofed with a vaulted plastered ceiling and lighted
with four simple lancets piercing the end and lateral walls. All
the interior fittings and details of the sacristies, refectories, and
parlours were carefully considered and worked out and, being
remarkably plain and simple, bear an unmistakable impress of a
conventual character.
Externally too the buildings wear a thoroughly conventual
appearance, and a further religious interest is created by the fact
that the whole of the stone facing had formed the ashlar surface of
the old tower of St. James's Church, then recently taken down, and
that the design and details were the result of a careful study of
the ruined Abbey of Glastonbury and of the cathedral church of
Wells. The great gable facing the road, presenting a nearly
unbroken surface, the oak shingled fleche rising from the roof
at the junction of the choir and sanctuary and capped with the
gilded figure of St. Gabriel, the little court with its gable turret
and windows, form a contribution of picturesqueness which add
interest to the town and recall the good old days when England
was Catholic in all she thought and did.
Franciscan Convent, Portobello Road, Bayswater
Something has already been said (Chapter XVI) of this convent,
founded at the instance of Cardinal Manning in 1857. The com-
munity first dwelt in three houses in Elgin Road until the convent
464 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
in Portobello Road was ready for them in 1862, The domestic
buildings and the chapel are typical of simple buildings erected
for this purpose at that period ; and their very plainness saves
them from offence. They were enlarged in 1870 to accommodate
a large poor law school for girls then entrusted to the nuns' care ;
but discontinued in 1896, when the orphans were otherwise pro-
vided for, and the school closed. Bentley's more intimate con-
nection as architect to the convent did not begin till 1883, al-
though thirteen years earlier he had designed for it a high altar
and a votive altar to St. Francis, and in 1873 had planned a new
dormitory and refectory and certain laundry extensions for the
orphanage.
In 1883 the convent was completed under his direction by
the building of a new chapter room facing the garden, with eight
cells above ; a corridor linking cloister and garden formed part
of the scheme. Adjoining the chapel was built a new infirmary
overlooking the high altar,^ with a cell attached for the infirmarian.
A bell turret was also added on the " south " side, with an entrance
near the chancel steps.
The chapel, a structure of a French Romanesque type, con-
sisted originally of nuns' choir, sanctuary, and transept, this last
reserved for the use of the orphans and any visitors. The com-
munity having increased in numbers beyond the seating originally
provided, it was decided to lengthen the chapel by adding a small
ante-chapel at the west end, to accommodate the organ and singing
choir, the space thus released within the nave being sufficient to
admit eight more stalls, four on either side. The merest glance
suffices to show where Bentley's work begins, the beauty of his
detail being most striking, notably in the case of the caps and
abaci of the coupled columns, which, set on high pedestals, carry
the flat roof of the ante-chapel. The small organ chamber, a
continuation to the " south " of this ante-chapel, is open to the
nave, the upper part of the wall having been removed and re-
placed by stone columns. Further light is obtained through a
' Its window giving on to the chancel is now closed up.
ECCLESIASTICAL ARCHITECTURE 466
small window in the " east " wall of the organ chamber ; its
stained glass represents the figure of the Blessed Virgin known
by the title oi the "Immaculate Conception."
A year or two earlier Bentley had designed and supervised
the entire decoration of the chapel ; but of this no trace is now
to be seen. The two altars he had erected in 1870 remain, however,
exactly as he left them. The high altar is a harmonious and
dignified production, suited to the style of the building, in what
we may term his transitional manner, bearing but slight kinship
to that earlier period of indulgence in elaborate inlays of tile and
mosaic, associated with sculptured alabaster and pictorial painted
work. The gradine and super-altar are in this case simply con-
structed of polished Hopton Wood stone ; alabaster is used for the
plinth, capping and mouldings of the deeply recessed frontal,
whose terminal pilasters, together with those of the gradine, are
faced with light red marble, adorned with an inlaid pattern in
alabaster. The pilasters are capped with vine leaves, sculptured
in low relief. The alabaster tabernacle is enriched with gold
mosaic inlay in the tympanum of its trefoil arch. The altar
underwent slight alteration in 1882, to receive the throne, a
wooden spire carved, fretted, and gilt. An interlacing vine
twines the length of its pierced and pinnacled buttresses, and
forms the cornice at the springing of the tall octagonal spirelet.
The second altar of 1870 is that originally dedicated to St.
Francis of Assisi, placed in an apse-like projection of the transept.
The Caen stone mensa is supported by two griotte columns, with
moulded alabaster caps and bases. The gradine is built of Hopton
Wood stone, and the frontal, slightly recessed, faced with very pretty
majolica tiles with a conventional pattern of pale blue, green, and
buff on a white ground. These altars passed with the chapel
and convent into the possession of their present owners, the
Dominican nuns, in 1897.
466 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
Convent of the Immaculate Conception, Braintree, Essex
Bentley's old friends, the Franciscan nuns of Portobello
Road, Bayswater, having sold their house to the Dominican nuns
in 1897, had bought a considerable amount of landed property in
the parish of Bocking, close to the main road leading to Booking
and Braintree from Halstead. There was, it is said, a hospice
here in mediaeval days, where the pilgrims to that famous Lady
Shrine at Walsingham and the equally famous church of St.
Edmund at Bury halted for their midday meal. Hard by is an
old manor, now a farmhouse, whose history dates back to Saxon
times, and some of the present building to the reign of King John.
It was restored in 1524, according to a date on the wall.
The property included an old house of moderate size (pos-
sibly dating from the end of the seventeenth century, though
at some period fronted with stucco), in which the community
took up residence in October, Cardinal Vaughan saying the first
Mass in the new mission (for the convent chapel was intended to
serve also for congregational purposes) on the 2nd of that
month. This inaugural service took place in a room fitted as the
temporary private oratory of the convent ; but the regular Sunday
services were held in a large studio in the grounds until the new
church was opened.
The house proving too small, as indeed had been recognized
from the first, for community needs, Bentley was commissioned
to enlarge the convent and build a small church devised to serve
the double purpose of nuns' choir and parish church. The founda-
tion stone was laid in the bitter cold of a violent blizzard on
March 26th, 1898, by the late Dean Angelo Lucas, the architect
being present. The high altar was consecrated and the church
opened on May 24th and 25th in 1899 ' by the late Dr. Robert
Brindle, D.S.O., then auxiliary Bishop to Cardinal Vaughan, who
was prevented from attending, being abroad at the time.
• Bentley was then desperately ill, the result of a second paralytic stroke, and could
not be present.
Ground Floor Plaii.
Fio. 44. — Chapel and Convent of the Fbanoisoan Nuns, Braintbee, Essex.
468 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
The church and the new wing are united to the old building
and front the high road, being flush with it, as the accompanying
ground plan shows. Their style is early fifteenth century, the
materials employed being red brick with stone facings, and a
particularly charming feature being the bell turret with its tra-
ceried openings and cast lead cupola. The satisfactory grouping
and happy pitch of the tiled roofs also merit observation.
The nave of the chapel, 40 ft. long by 20 ft. wide, is reserved
for the nuns ; a north transept, 25 ft. long by 20 ft. wide, opening
with an arcading on to the chancel, being provided for congrega-
tional use. The nave is fitted with double rows of oaken stalls,
while right and left at the west end are two of greater size and
importance, facing the altar, intended for the use of the abbess
and her vicaress. The oak panelling is carried up above to meet
the organ gallery. The ceilings of both nave and transept are
vaulted, the ribs and cornices being painted white, and the ground-
work a light colour, blue in the case of the sanctuary (whose
simple and yet decorative rafters may be seen in the accom-
panying photograph), dull green in the nave, and pale Indian red in
the transept.
The details of the stonework are reduced everywhere to the
utmost simplicity, such elaboration as might be permitted being
reserved for the treatment of the high altar. This is built of
Hopton Wood stone and Lancashire marble, whose sober greys
afford a pleasing contrast to the deep and glorious blues of the
opus sectile frontal ; in which three seraphim, bearing gold-lettered
scrolls, appear almost to break through their surrounding of
heavenly azure. The alabaster reredos encloses six upright
panels of fine Greek cipollino, its clear pale green enhanced by a
slender border of vitreous mosaic in blue and silver. An ex-
quisite little canopied throne, carved in wood and gilded, com-
pletes an entirely beautiful composition (Plate LXV).
Lozenges and strips of coloured marble, set in white, pave the
sanctuary. The flooring of nave and transept is composed of
wood blocks, stained and wax polished. Beneath the tall window
ECCLESIASTICAL ARCHITECTURE 469
of the south wall of the sanctuary is placed the Lady altar, facing
towards the congregational transept. This, Bentley's last contribu-
tion to the chapel furnishing, designed in 1901, is a lovely little
wooden shrine, elaborately carved and fretted and decorated in
gold and colour to produce a gorgeous effect. The space under
t he altar is left a clear void, for the insertion of a reliquary. The
predella is of oak, deal being the material of the altar and dossal.
The relation of the church to the domestic buildings will be
revealed by a glance at the ground plan (p. 467). Communica-
tion between the chapel and the convent proper is established by
means of a long corridor, hung with the fourteen Stations of the
Cross, the privilege of erecting these outside a church being peculiar
to the Franciscan order. The new buildings form with the old
a quadrangle, around which are the refectory, kitchens, laundry,
etc. The new front wing provides on the ground floor two small
parlours for the use and reception of visitors. Above these are
two guest bedrooms, while the remainder of the upper floor, over
refectory and kitchen, is divided into ten cells, or sleeping apart-
ments, for the nuns. The whole building is heated with hot-
water apparatus and lighted with gas.
The situation of the convent is unusually beautiful ; in front
there is the river and picturesque mill-wheel, whose plashing
water sings a lullaby to happy guests within the convent walls ;
at the back one's eye travels down over a terraced garden to the
river winding peacefully through its midst to distant fields. Mas-
sive trees overhang the grassy slopes and give thicker shade to the
winding shrubberies of this ancient garden of peace, into which
Bentley's new buildings have brought no discordant note. Even
his critical and self-searching spirit was forced to admit, while
disowning satisfaction, that the result was " at least picturesque."
The building then and since has attracted a great deal of
attention and praise, which could not fail to gratify him and
would, he knew, give pleasure to Mother Abbess. In one of his
last letters to her (August 13th, 1901) he wrote: "The other
day I was glad to hear a person of great taste extolling your
470 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
convent ; he said it was the most interesting Httle building he
had ever seen, and more which I hesitate to write." ^
St, Stanislaus College, Beaumont
The home of this, the Eton of CathoHc schools, situated in a
pleasant demesne acquired by the Society of Jesus in 1854, is a
curious classical mansion built in 1790, on the site of a late seven-
teenth-century house, by the architect, Henry Emlyn, for a Mr.
Henry Griffiths, who had then recently purchased the estate from
Warren Hastings. Beaumont Lodge, as then it was known,
served for the next seven years as the home of the Jesuit novices
of the English Province. Their transference to Manresa House,
Roehampton, took place in 1861, when the Beaumont house was
opened as a secular school. Since then there have been many
additions to the old building ; but that of chief concern to this
history is the church built by Mr. Joseph Hansom in 1870, a
quasi -classical structure consisting of nave and chancel, ceiled
with a barrel vault. In the north wall were the entrances to a
row of externally built confessionals.
Bentley's diary for 1873 first mentions Beaumont with refer-
ence to designs for a high altar, reredos, tabernacle and throne,
and some mural decorations. These works were completed by
1876, the only detail dropped being the altar frontal ; the old
arcaded one was retained and fixed to the new altar. The
reredos is a richly carved, painted, and gilt Renaissance conception,
the gift of the Beaumont Union (of Old Boys). It is divided into
five panels, the centre and end ones having segmental pediments,
beneath a frieze of garlands, scrollwork, and cherubs. These
last rest upon the architraves of the second and fourth panels.
' We do not know to whom he refers. Braintree convent chapel was in a certain
fashion connected with Westminster Cathedral. It was in this wise. Mr. Percy Lamb,
who for several years had been assistant supervisor for Bentloy at the cathedral works,
was taken off tliis work and sent down by him to take charge of the building operations
at Braintree at a critical moment. In May 1899, when the church was opened, and the
work practically complete, Mr. Lamb was recalled to Westminster to supervise the con-
creting of the domes, which required carefully and constantly watching.
ECCLESIASTICAL ARCHITECTURE 471
Depending garlands of fruit and flowers intervene between the
panels. The moulded cornice is surmounted by a cresting formed
of scrolls and pyramidal forms, alternating with the emblems of
the Passion enwreathed and crowned. The panels contain
paintings by Mr. Nat Westlake ; our Lord in the centre, our Lady
and St. Aloysius on the Gospel, St. Joseph and St. Stanislaus on
the Epistle side. Their backgrounds are in golden diaper work.
An imitation of marble has in recent years been painted on
the wall beneath the reredos. The altar is built mainly of Derby-
shire fossil and Irish green marbles ; the tabernacle and throne
are of alabaster, the latter being flanked by two angel figures
standing on pedestals on either side of the monstrance stand.
On the base moulding of the domical canopy are seated two
small angels supporting a crowned enwreathed symbol. A cross
set upon a globe crowns the whole. The tabernacle pediment is
inlaid with pale bluish-green marble; its door of copper gilt, set
with enamels and precious stones, is adorned with an oblong
panel at each corner, richly repousse in a leaf design ; in the
centre, on either side, are two eight-pointed stars, enamelled in
blue and green, with half-figures of Abel and Melchisedech etched
in black on the gold grovmd. The precious stones are introduced
into the border and ornament siirrounding these panels. The
holy water stoup, a simple classical white marble basin affixed
to the wall near the entrance, was added by Bentley in 1880.
In 1884 he enlarged the chapel by opening out the arches of
the north wall and clearing away the confessionals, converting
the passage behind into an aisle, terminating eastward in a tiny
Lady Chapel. New confessionals were constructed on the further
side of the aisle. The new work was painted and decorated to
bring it into harmony with the rest of the building.
It should be remarked in conclusion that Beaumont College
Chapel possesses some superb examples of Bentley's metalwork,
notably the communion rails (1885), the set of six high altar
candlesticks given by General Guzman Blanco, President of
Venezuela, in memory of his third son, who died in Paris whilst
472 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
still a Beaumont boy ; the six scale-pattern candlesticks of the
Lady altar, and last, but not least, a splendid silver-gilt chalice,
set with cameos, opals, and turquoises, the gift in 1887 of Don
Carlos of Spain, in remembrance of the first communion of his
son Don Jaime.
The community chapel, originally the library of the old house,
is adorned with very simple painted decoration, chiefly in blue
and white, with a sparing use of gilding, executed from Bentley's
designs some time (probably) in the late 'eighties.
This chapter must close with a brief reference to a cemetery
chapel designed under somewhat unusual conditions for the first
Earl Cowley. Bentley received instructions in 1883 from a solicitor,
Mr. A. A. CoUyer-Bristow, introduced by a solicitor friend, the
late Mr. Alfred Blount, to prepare plans, elevations, and all working
drawings and specifications necessary for the erection of a small
mortuary chapel at Draycot, near Chippenham, Lord Cowley's
Wiltshire seat. The unusual element lay in the fact that the
completed designs were to be handed over bodily to Mr. CoUyer-
Bristow, Bentley taking no part whatever in supervising the
erection of the building. A case similar in some respects was the
chapel at Darwen, Lancashire, for which Bentley in 1884 or 1885
made complete designs at the request of his friend John Henry
Metcalfe. The latter was to supervise the building operations,' and
go half shares in the commission.
CHAPTER XIX
DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE (l)
(a) Private Dwellings : Westlake's house — Sunnydene and EUerslie, Sydenham — House
at Bainbridge, Yorks. — Gilmuire, Ascot — House at Wimbledon — Sundry cottages
and small houses — Unexecuted designs : House on Campden Hill ; Mansions at
Knightsbridge ; Derryswood, Guildford, (b) Alterations and Decorations to Private
Dwellings : Heron's Ghyll — Carlton Towers — Duncroft, Staines — Brickwall, Northiam
— House at Saffron Walden — 70, Eccleston Square — 3, Lodge Place, St. John's
Wood — 4, Earl's Terrace, Kensington — Havilland Hall, Taunton — 45, Buckland
Crescent, N.W. — Sandholme, Doncaster — Unexecuted work : Snowdenham — Certain
minor matters, (c) Presbyteries : St. Peter's, Doncaster — St. Mary's, Cadogan Street
— SS. Peter and Edward, Palace Street— Holy Rood, Watford, (d) Commercial :
Distillery, Hill Street, Finsbury— Carrier's Warehouse and Offices, Golden Lane —
Organ Factory, Brixton — Muraline Factory, Brixton — Decorative work at Sheffield
Corn Exchange and G.N.R. Hotel, Leeds — Alteration to front of 77, Hatton Garden.
Bentley's first essay in purely domestic architecture was a com-
mission received in 1863 from his collaborator and friend N. H. J.
Westlake, who had acquired, for the purpose of building a dwelling
for himself, a corner site in Lancaster Road, Notting Hill, a neigh-
bourhood then undergoing rapid development. The house was
to cost about £l,000. The drawings, curiously prim and stiff and
unlike as anything well could be to the Bentley draughtsmanship
familiar to us in later years, show a three-storeyed brick-built house,
rectangular in plan, with stone door and window dressings. There
is a semi-basement floor also. The main entrance, at the corner
of the elevation to Treadgold Street, is entered through an arch-
way, with an interior flight of steps. Another feature is the
arcaded loggia on the third floor, bestowing on the building a
southern character, intended to have been further emphasized by
an external painted frieze, never carried out.
The exterior of the house is now so sadly dingy that on a
casual passing glance one hardly realizes that it possesses any
473
474 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
merit or individuality above its neighbours in a district which
has degenerated into a poor and mean quarter. It is many years
since Mr. Westlake hved in the house ; subsequently it was used
for a time as St. Clement's Church Hovise and now seems to
have descended to tenement level. The design was thought a
good deal of when first carried out ; leather Rawes brought his
friend, the poet Coventry Patmore, to inspect it, an introduction
which gained Bentley his next domestic commission.
Sunnydene, Rockhills, Sydenham (1868-70). — This house, built
for the late W. R. Sutton,' is thus noticed in Eastlake's Revival of
Gothic Architecture : " Tudor and Jacobean, a well-appointed
residence, designed with great care, the garden, etc., being laid
out in a style corresponding with the date of the house. House
of red brick with stone dressings ; has a tiled roof. Internal
fittings chiefly of wainscot. General dimensions 110 x 48 ft."
The actual development of the plan was rather complicated.
Mr. T. C. Lewis, Mr.Sutton's brother-in-law, drew a plan and it was
arranged to assist their friend J. H. Metcalfe by allowing him
to make the drawings as an extra temporary clerk in Bentley 's
office. Ultimately Bentley had to take the matter in hand, and
did most of the details and all the decoration, so that the house
has always been considered his. He added stables and coach-
house in 1869 ; and from time to time designed domestic furniture
and fittings, all noticed in Chapter XXIII. The internal adorn-
ments comprise stained glass, painted ceilings, oak wainscotting
and chimney-pieces, and other painted decoration.
On the drawing-room much thought was lavished ; the dado
is oak panelled and the floor of light parquetry. From the bow
window mellow light streams through the grisaille-painted glazing
of its upper casements. The ceiling is painted in a delicately
formal fashion with sprays of foliage and conventional suns in
green and gold, arranged in wreaths within geometrical compart-
ments. Surrounding the fireplace are tiles painted with figures
of the four seasons ; the oak chimney-piece is carried up to a
' Mr. Sutton left a millionaire's fortune for the building of workmen's dwellings.
1
r~
r
Front Elevation.
Back Elevation.
Plate LXVI. — Tudok Cottage, Bainbmdge, Yobks.
•47J)
/
I'l.ATK LXVII.— Caulton Towers, Youks : Venetian DitA\vjNt!-ROOM.
[■I7l>
DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE 475
frieze painted by the late W. Christian Symons with charming
figures representing scenes in the Midsummer NighVs Dream.
The theme of the seasons, evidently a favourite one, recurs in
the delicate stained glass of the library windows ; while on the
staircase there is a large window effectively treated with grisaille
work and green swags.
We must not omit to mention a particularly charming addition
to comfort and appearance made in 1873 — namely the oak- panelled
and glazed screen in the hall. Its quarries are painted each with
a single floral spray and the mottoes carved on the label at the head
of each door welcome and speed the parting guest : " Merry Meet,"
"• Merry Part." The bold cresting of scrollwork and pome-
granates is an effective finish. The leadwork of the glazing is
gilt to lighten the effect.
On the completion of Sunny dene, Bentley built in 1870 the
adjoining house, Ellerslie, for Mr. Sutton, a gabled red brick
house with slated roof. Its first tenant was Mr. John Pike, a
hop merchant and great friend of Sir Andrew Walker,^ the wealthy
brewer who gave Liverpool her famous Art Gallery. (Bentley
decorated the latter's yacht through Mr. Pike's introduction.)
This house, which has served for some time as the quarters of
the Dominion Club, has since been greatly altered and spoiled.
Bainbridgc, Yorks. — This pretty and quite simple little Tudor
cottage was built for Miss Lucy Harrison in 1885. The materials
are red brick with stone dressings and ashlared quoins. The
main details are sufficiently clear from the plans and elevations
here given ; it will be observed that on the groimd floor two
communicating living rooms are provided, house-place and par-
lour ; while an ample kitchen, offices, and side entrance occupy
the left side of the plan. The porch, 6 ft. 6 in. by 7 ft. 6 in., has
a window and a deep seat on the left side, while the staircase to
the upper floor is arranged to be completely invisible to those
' It was at one time Sir Andrew's avowed intention, we are told, to give Liverpool
a cathedral, of which Bentley was to be the architect. It used to be said that he was
the owner of a mile of public-houses !
HOUSK. - BAINRKinoK - YoRKSHlKE —
C ROIMU fl.VN
Chamber Pi-an
FiQ. 45. — TuDOE Cottage, Bainbbidoe, Yorkshire.
DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE 47T
entering. On the upper floor there are three well-proportioned
bedrooms, entered through a corridor in the front of the house
lit by three leaded casements, and a servant's bedroom over larder
and washhouse ; while the tiny room over the porch is designed
to serve as a workroom (fig. 45).
It will be observed that since the main axis of the house
runs north and south, this front corridor arrangement ensures
that the bedroom windows shall all obtain ample sunlight from
the south and west ; and the same remark applies of course to
the living rooms. The internal details of joinery, fireplaces, etc.,
are similarly characterized by their simple fitness. The initials
of the owner and the date are sculptured within the shouldered
mouldings of the entrance arch (Plate LXVI).
The 'nineties appear to have been quite fruitful years for
Bentley as regards the number of his domestic commissions. At the
opening of the decade we find him engaged on a new residence at
Ascot for Mr. Edmund Maxwell- Stuart, on designs for an extension
to Bishop's Hall House for Mr. H. T. Manley, and similar altera-
tions to Bramley Farm, Guildford, for the late Mr. Harold Courage ;
he was then designing or finishing presbyteries for the Catholic
church in Palace Street, Westminster ; for Holy Rood Church,
Watford ; Corpus Christi, Brixton ; and a monastery to adjoin
St. Mary's, Clapham. To Duncroft, Staines, the residence of Mr.
T. Mitchel Chapman, he was adding a new wing and altering the
front, etc. ; and, not to mention other smaller matters, was
making additions to and decorating his brother's (Mr. Robert C.
Bentley) recently acquired Doncaster house. The last house he
built was a small one, little more than a cottage, at Wimbledon
in 1899 for Miss Parker.
Glenmuire, Ascot. — Mr. Maxwell-Stuart acquired a piece of land
at Ascot in 1889, having previously instructed Bentley to prepare
a rough plan for a house to cost somewhere about £2,000. (The
actual cost was nearly £3,000.) The plans were begun in May
1889, and the building was completed in the following year.
The materials are bricks, tiles, and some rough casting. The
11—10
478 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
arms which decorate the front are the owner's, with those of his
wife impaled. Various improvements suggested by liim were
welcomed by the architect as the work proceeded — (Mr. Maxwell
Stuart has told the writer how delightful throughout were their
relations, since Bentley was ever ready to give courteous attention
to his minutest wish) — but these, " like most improvements," as
Bentley cautioned him, " imply a further dive into the exchequer."
Little sidelights on his views on structiiral details, and the strenuous
avoidance of the commonplace, emerge from time to time in
their correspondence, as for instance : " Moulded eaves and
gutters in view are never satisfactory ; to me they always give a
cheap common appearance to a house," and again, as regards
the merits of painting versus staining : " I personally am averse
to the latter ; to me, it always gives a house a common appear-
ance, perhaps owing to its associations with all cheap and nasty
work for the last half-century."
Poor Bentley, smitten by that raging fiend, Russian influenza,
was very ill in the January of 1890 ; not the least unpleasant
consequence was the severe inflammation of the eyes with which
he was afflicted. He complained of losing much time thixjugh
this " pair of red eyes " ; it was possibly on this account that the
builders started on the kitchen wing chimneys at Glenmuire,
without any detail drawing, with the result that the two projecting
brick cornices were not as the architect intended, while the shaft
above them should have set back from the face below. As the
stacks were, they appeared to him, when at last well enough to
inspect the house, "frightfully uncouth" and were promptly
altered. Some further small additions were made in 1893. This
very comfortable and charming house was until recently the
property and the residence of the late Lady Ponsonby.
Bentley devoted a good deal of time to a small house built
at Raynes Park, Wimbledon, for Miss Parker in 1899. The
materials are red brick, tiles and rough cast. This house, or
rather cottage, has an effectively gabled exterior, with details
in the modern adaptation ot the early Georgian mode. The ground
DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE 479
floor plan shows porch, hall, dining-room, drawing-room, and the
usual domestic offices ; while on the upper storey there are five
bedrooms, a dressing-room, linen room, bathroom, etc. The
house, as it was built, lost something in picturesqueness by the
setting-back to the face of the chimney-stack of the deep window
bay designed for the dining-room and by the omission of the
small window above the porch, intended to give light to the linen
chamber.
Among small houses or cottages erected from Bentley's designs
we may mention two on Wimbledon Common, built by the late
J, Erskine Knox, the carver, as a speculation. Bentley merely
made the general drawings, but no details, and their erection
was supervised by Knox himself in 1880.
The gamekeepers' and under-gamekeepers' cottages, five in all,
in the village " High Street," at Carlton Towers, Yorkshire, were
built at the desire of the late Dowager Lady Beaumont in 1876, and
cost £1,347, the price of the detached dwellings amounting to
roughly £327, and of the attached £252 each.
In quite a number of cases Bentley prepared plans and indeed
occasionally all the necessary drawings for buildings that never
materialized. We shall later speak of one of first-rate importance,
namely the proposed Jacobean house at Derryswood. Another
abortive commission was the large house and studio planned for
a stockbroker named Abbott, who lived in the " Gothic " house
known as " The Abbey " in Campden Hill Road, Kensington.
The site for the proposed house was either facing or very near
" The Abbey." The client professed himself delighted with the
plans, whose completion was pressed forward by his desire, and
they were presented to him in February 1883, when he ordered
estimates to be obtained. The rest is silence ; and Bentley's diary
never again refers to the subject.
The renunciation of the proposed block of flats at Knights-
bridge was a more serious loss, and of the architect's own volition.
Lord Beaumont had instructed Bentley in 1879 to prepare plans
for a "large range of mansions " to occupy the then vacant land
480 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
fronting Hyde Park westward of the Albert Gate. Complete
designs were prepared, and tenders obtained during the client's
absence, on a big game hunting expedition in Africa, on his express
desire, by the trustees appointed to act in his absence. Lord
Beaumont was in his own mind assured of the financial success
of the scheme, of which the first portion was estimated to cost
£70,000, and after six months' absence was somewhat annoyed to
find that the work was not under way. The facts were, that in
the meantime Bentley had lost belief in the financial stability of
the speculation ; he laid all his reasons before Lord Beaumont,
and finally persuaded him to abandon the project, thus courage-
ously sacrificing his own interest.
Among the enlargements of dwellings and decorative work
undertaken by Bentley from time to time there is a trio of
examples of greater importance than the rest, namely Heron's
Ghyll, Carlton Towers, and Duncroft, Staines, which will therefore
be taken first.
Heron's Ghyll (1866). — Coventry Patmore had pvu'chased a
little before this date some land in Sussex lying on both sides of
the high road between Maresfield and Crowborough ; part of the
estate he sold, and a large house was built thereon ; on the moiety
retained there stood an ancient farmhouse known as " Old Lands,"
The number of herons wont to feed in the stream that flowed
through the estate inspired its new owner with the idea of chang-
ing the name to the prettier and more musical " Heron's Ghyll" '
(Ghyll is, we believe, a lake-country name for such a stream),
" Old Lands " being retained as the name of the property on the
other side of the road. Heron's Ghyll stands, as Mr. E. V. Lucas
notes in his Highways and Byways in Sussex, " in one of those
hollow sites that alone won the word eligible from a Tudor builder ! "
Its owner had become acquainted with Bentley, as we have seen,
and liking Westlake's house had invited the architect to enlarge
and make this farmhouse fit for habitation.
Finance seems from the outset to have been a point at issue ;
■ A difficulty at first to the country people, who pronounced it " Herring's Gills."
DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE 481
Patmore desired a large and handsome dwelling at a minimum
of cost ; Bentley struggled to meet his wishes, endeavouring
in every possible way to cut down expense. The proposed
adaptation involved an important new front, 98 ft, in length,
and amounted indeed practically to building a new house, since
its ground plan included chapel, drawing, dining and morning
rooms, with a very large entrance hall adjoining the separate
chapel entrance at one end, and a study facing to the back. The
new upper floor provided a number of bedrooms. The old part
formed the kitchens and other domestic offices arranged round a
kitchen court, while stable accommodation for all requirements
surrounded the large stable court. The house is built of local
sandstone with tile roofs, the muUions of the great windows in
drawing and dining rooms being made of oak, and the bays are so
projected as to admit the maximum of sunlight.
" The woodwork for the two great windows is completed,"
wrote Bentley enthusiastically, " that for the drawing-room looks
very fine — it far exceeds my expectations. I can't understand
how the joiner has done it for the money. The wood, too, is
beautiful." Scattered remarks in the correspondence that passed
show how immense was Bentley's enthusiasm over this work.
He even dreamed of it — " I was dreaming last night that there
were great treasures hidden in the space under the storeroom ! "
Patmore was enthusiastic too — he lived near by at Buxted Hall
to superintend the building in progress, since it had been decided
to dispense with a contractor ; the following letter shows in how
mediaeval a fashion labour was obtained and directed :
" Southampton Street,
" Wednesday Evening.
" My Dear Patmore,
" I am sorry to hear the result of your inquiries, which I
think is somewhat exaggerated, or Sussex is an exception to the
rest of England. I doubt, with you, whether we should obtain
labour at the present low rate ; at the same time it is fallacious
to imagine that London wages hold good in the provinces, indeed
482 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
I should question even an instance, excepting of course those
where men have been sent from town. Mechanics in the North
are paid 4*. Qd. per day ; labourers 2s. 9d. ; and I have always
understood, if anything, less was given in the south. We must
hire men from the surrounding towns, or, what would be better
still, take them from the road. Masons, you know, are an
itinerant race, rarely to be found in fixed abodes, and their rule
is to accept the scale of wages of the district in which they are
engaged. If we can only procure sufficient masons, I have but
little fear of the other trades, as we should only require one
carpenter and, say, two bricklayers until the walls are ready for
the roof.
" I have been working like a Trojan since my return. I have
got the whole of the general drawings in pencil, and half of them
in ink. The clerk of works whom I spoke to you about is
engaged. After consideration I think it is just as well, for since
seeing you I have come to the conclusion that it would be better
to employ a good mason who would be able to fix the stonework
as well as look after the men. This would be a saving of expense
as well as an assistance towards getting the men together. Let
me know whether I am to engage a man of this sort. If the work
is to go on this year, sooner it is commenced the better — short
days are neither good for master nor man.
"It is impossible to say to £50 how much the whole of the
work would cost to carry out, but I would suggest building
the chapel and room over and the entire front with the two
bays ; I believe the £500 would see it thro', leaving the study
and offices till we saw what effect the former had on the ex-
chequer.
" I am anxious the work should go on at once, so much so that
I will willingly superintend it to the end in person, say once a
month or oftener if requisite, merely charging you my traveUing
expenses and the ordinary commission on the design. You will
gain nothing by deferring it till next year ; in fact, I believe there
will be another advance on all labour before the end of this. Make
DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE 483
up your mind to commence at once. The present weather is too
tempting to let slip,
*' I am in much haste, having to attend the funeral of a dear
friend.
" My kindest regards to Mrs. Patmore.
" Always most faithfully yours,
" John F. Bentley.
" P.S. — I shall do nothing in Tennyson's ^ matter till I have
completed your drawings — pressed ! pressed ! ! pressed ! ! ! "
The work progressed rapidly in spite of inevitable set-backs.
There was, for instance, the tragic occasion when the ridge tiles
arrived hopelessly shattered in transit. The railway's disclaimers
of responsibility wrung from Bentley the sarcastic query : " What
do they mean by ' fragile articles ' ? — perhaps cast iron is amongst
them ! " The house was roofed in in October 1866, and the
plasterers were at work before the end of the year.
The work gained its author a meed of praise : he wrote to
Charles Hadfield (July 1867) : " Brett, the great ' Pre-Raph,'
has complimented me most highly on the house at Buxted. He
told Patmore it is the only house he has seen that at all reminds
him of what the domestic dwellings of the past must have been.
I suppose this is owing to the careful attention bestowed on the
accessories, such as the glazing, woodwork, ceilings, and chimney-
pieces and the absence of anything modern. I am glad to say I
have nothing in the shape of abominable chimney-breasts in the
place. . , ."
Then came the beginning of the end to this brief friendship
and connection, Patmore had launched out into stained glass
and doubtless other expenditure not originally contemplated,
and when the bills came in, began to grumble. His complaints
about Bentley, uttered to mutual friends, soon reached the
architect's ears, who, his sense of justice outraged, wrote immedi-
1 No explanation of this reference (presumably to the poet) lias been found.
484 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
ately to acquaint Patmore that he had learned of and bitterly
resented these allegations :
" 14, Southampton Street, Strand,
" October l^th, 1867.
" My dear Patmore,
" Will you kindly send me all the accounts connected
with the work at Buxted done under my immediate superintend-
ence. I am anxious to know the total cost, as there are reports
about respecting it of a most extraordinary nature, which if
allowed to pass unchallenged, will do much to damage my pro-
fessional character. Already Pugin has handled it to his purpose.
" I have just received a letter from Canon Drinkwater (in
reply to one of mine) containing accusations which have greatly
pained and surprised me. But more of this anon.
" Kindest regards to Mrs. Patmore.
" Ever yours sincerely,
" John F. Bentley."
Patmore replied :
" Bdxted,
" October 2Ut, 1867.
" My dear Bentley,
" There are one or two large bills which have not been sent
in. I will write for them at once, and will then forward you a
full statement of expenses.
" I was a good deal surprised to hear from the Canon some-
thing of what had passed, and that he had thought right to speak
and write as he seems to have done. I have made no ' accusa-
tions ' other than those which I have made to yourself, namely
that you have greatly inconvenienced me by the excess of actual
expenditure over your estimates, and that you did not exercise
so much forethought for me, in this matter, as I think that you
should have done. These, however, are charges which seem to
be universally brought against architects, and they are not likely
therefore to do you any harm. ..."
DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE 485
Bentley later sent copies of his " original estimates and the
subsequent extras" enclosed with his account, writing, still in a
tone of studious moderation, " I trust you will consider the former
fair and impartial, and the latter " — (i.e. the account) — " should
it be otherwise, is at your disposal."
The unhappy incident resulted in an irreparable sense of wrong
in Bentley's mind, and terminated in an estrangement so
hopeless that friendly relations between the two men were never,
we believe, resumed.
The property was in 1874 sold by Mr. Patmore to the Duke
of Norfolk, it is understood for £27,000, the present owner being
Mr. James Fitzalan Hope, M.P., and it appears that two further
additions have since been made to Bentley's work.
Carlton Toivers, the seat of the Stapleton family, near Selby in
Yorkshire, stands in a finely wooded and watered park ; while the
neighbouring village of Carlton adds to the beauty of the scenery
by its charmingly ancient and romantic appearance. The Jaco-
bean mansion of moderate dimensions known formerly as Carlton
Hall was taken in hand, enlarged, and in some degree " Gothi-
cized " for the ninth Lord Beaumont by tlie late Edward Welby
Pugin, who died suddenly of syncope while still quite a young
man, and while the work at Carlton was yet incomplete, in June
1875. The house had, just a century earlier, been greatly im-
proved, it is said, by the then occupant, Thomas Stapleton.
It was either through the late General de Havilland or through
Mr. Everard Green, Somerset Herald, that Bentley was introduced
to Lord Beaumont, at the moment in immense perplexity and
difficulties over the completion of his house ; Bentley went to
stay at Carlton to advise him and talk over the proposed work
in August 1875. Exteriorly, Carlton Towers, as Pugin converted
it, is a castellated stone-built pile, its flat roof crowned with two
upstanding square towers and smaller turrets. The Beaumont
motto is sculptured round the parapet of the clock-tower, and the
windows of course are mullioned.
Bentley's connection with the building endured from 1875 until
486 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
1891, his client, the ninth Baron, dying a year later. The initial
action in 1875 appears to have been naturally the completion
of whatever constructive work remained unfinished, putting in
the window glazing and laying flooring — marble in the porch,
parquetry in the three state rooms and elsewhere. This done,
the work of internal decoration was put in hand, beginning with
the great saloon known as the Venetian state drawing-room, and
the state bedrooms (Plate LXVII).
The beauty of the decoration in the Venetian drawing-room is
but feebly suggested in the accompanying photograph ; its name
was suggested, it is said, by Bentley's discovery of a quantity
of priceless Venetian glass stowed away in cupboards at Carlton,
This he restored to the light of day to become, together with some
valuable old porcelain, a feature in the furnishing of the great
room. The panelled dado is continuous with the glazed cabinets
of similar design which line the walls on three sides. The chimney-
piece, carved, richly decorated in colour and gilt, and crowned
with the family arms supported by two talbots, is the great
central feature of this sumptuous apartment, whose rich frieze
and ceiling adornments in moulded plaster are enhanced by the
splendid wall and window hangings of silk velvet. This superb fabric,
designed by Bentley specially for its purpose, has a large formal
repeating pattern of a pomegranate within a lozenge of entwined
stems, which, being woven in a mellow green silk pile, stands
out effectively on a sheeny terra-cotta ground. The basket grate
and firedogs (illustrated in Plate LXXXIX), the carved and panelled
double doors, and the three great twenty-four light silvered chan-
deliers, swinging from the beams on their tasselled cords, all fiU
their part in this harmonious and stately interior.
It should be mentioned that the late General de Havilland
(York Herald) was responsible for the sketches of the heraldic
designs here and elsewhere embodied in the decorative scheme,
whose other chief components, in the Venetian drawing-room,
are small shields with animal badges, the letter B beneath a
baron's coronet, the motto of the Staplctons, Mieux sera, and a
* »
Plate LXVIII. — Carlton Towers, Yorks : Halt, and Akmoury, with JIinsteels' Gallery..
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DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE 487
rose of the Tudor type, surrounded with rays, and the pome-
granate, employed as an enrichment on the mouldings of the
great doorway. The dado panels are painted with figures of
Venetian gentlemen of the fifteenth century ; they were executed
by Mr. Westlake (N, H. J.), who writing to inquire their names
and the order of their arrangement, facetiously suggested calling
them " Shylock, Boldlock, Padlock, etc." The windows contain
grisaille-painted glass.
The really fine antique furniture, especially chairs of Charles
II, William and Mary, Queen Anne, and early Chippendale periods,
which Bentley discovered in the house and arranged with such
discrimination in the spacious state rooms, appears, to judge from
a later photograph, subsequently to have given place to, or at
least been overwhelmed by, a huddled and motley collection of
unsuitable objects.
The library was fitted up and the billiard- room finished in 1876;
the former has eighteenth-century characteristics, a ceiling with
moulded plaster ornament, and a marble chimney-piece with
decorative inlays. The basket grate and dogs are refined speci-
mens of the metalworker's art. Portland stone is the material
of the billiard-room chimney-piece, sculptured with a coat-of-
arms and a number of paterae in the string and in the four
panels. The spandrels also are carved. The armoury and entrance
hall convey, as the photograph shows, an impression of stately
dignity. They are crossed by the minstrels' gallery, the carved
detail of whose balustrading is among the best of J. E. Knox's
most skilled productions. The Stapleton motto, Mieux sera, on
a ribbon alternates with a floral motive on the frieze, while in
the central panel of the traceried screen above reappear the
family coat and supporters (Plates LXVIII and LXIX).
The grand staircase ascends to the right, its balustrade com-
posed of a traceried oaken arcading ; while the newel posts support
carved badges of the family, mostly heraldic beasts, three of which
are here separately illustrated as examples of virile handling of
the wood-carver's tools. The broad fireplace of the minstrels'
488 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
gallery, also of oak, consists of a series of panels traceried and
carved with five shields of arms. There is some stained glass —
two two-light windows and tracery — between the armoury and
the entrance porch, while the windows that light the staircase
are also filled with painted glass, an elaborate arrangement of
heraldic devices in quarries. In the gallery windows there are
two figures upon a background of painted quarries.
The picture gallery, a splendid apartment 67 ft. long by
24 ft. wide, opening out of the Venetian drawing-room (used also
as a ball-room), was similarly decorated and provided with a stone
chimney-piece of suitable design and proportions ^ in 1879.
Certain of the picture frames were made from Bentley's designs;
likewise the great chandeliers.
The card-room was completed with its decorated ceiling at
the same period, when the architect was also busy with drawings
for a new entrance lodge and some stable additions. It appears
that the chapel had been hastily finished about two years earlier,
in view of an expected visit from Cardinal Manning. Its east
window of three lights and tracery contains figures of St. George,
St. Louis, and St. John the Baptist, painted by the Westlake
firm. There is also a two-light window and tracery, subject
the Annunciation.
The fenders and grates in the rooms already enumerated, to-
gether with those in the small drawing-room and breakfast-room,
were all made by Longden & Co, after Bentley's special designs.
Besides this he chose or designed most of the furniture and
hangings throughout the house, and supervised their arrange-
ment to the minutest detail.
Lord Beaumont consulted Bentley again in 1888 concerning
a new drive, laying out the grounds and restoring the terrace at
Carlton, while about the same time the corridor and minstrels'
gallery received their oak panelling ; the painted decorations of
the billiard-room and staircase were added ; likewise a new door
1 The lato Mr. William de Morgan made the tiles for the picture gallery and drawing-
room grates.
DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE 489
carved with armorial shields at the garden entrance. An oak
stand for a triptych and finally, in 1891, a canopied pedestal
and figure of our Lady (this last a very charming piece of design
never carried out), complete the tale of Bentley's fifteen years*
work at Carlton Towers, " On no work of his life," as Mr. Willson
has so truly remarked, " can he have bestowed more pains, as a
mountain of working drawings— a large number of them from
his own hand — abundantly testifies. The decorative works in
various materials, painting, glass, and textiles, resulted in a most
sumptuous habitation, where the chairmaker's and the upholsterer's
art followed upon that of the skilled painter or sculptor under
one directing mind."
Diincroft, Staines. — To this large house, the residence of Mr, J.
Mitchel Chapman, Bentley was commissioned to carry out ex-
tensive alterations in 1891. By extensions and reconstruction
on the north garden side, and the addition of a new west (or
servants') wing, the accommodation was at least doubled ; while
by the remodelling of its erstwhile classic front on Jacobean
lines the appearance of the house was vastly improved. The
additions on the garden side comprised billiard-room, house-
keeper's room, storeroom and wine-cellar, pantries, larder and other
offices, while the new wing provided scullery, kitchen, and servants'
hall. Variety and charm were given to the old drawing-room on
the south front by throwing out a large rectangular bay window.
The new building comprised on the first floor three bed and
three bath rooms, and seven bedrooms, and a bathroom for the
domestic staff, and further sleeping accommodation on the attic
floor. The internal decorations included the panelling of the
hall, the billiard and morning rooms, new fireplaces, and the
fitting up and decoration of the drawing-room and library. The
lodge, an effective half-timbered building with red brick lower
story, was built in 1891 ; additions and alterations to the stables
in 1893. A design for a small formal garden to front the billiard-
room formed part of the original plan.
Among the numerous less important examples of Bentley's
490 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
practice in domestic architecture the following should be
noticed :
At Brickwall, near Northiam, Sussex, the historic seat of
the Frewen family, partly of Elizabethan and partly of Stuart age,
Bentley in 1864 did the plain panelling of the great entrance
hall, and put up a fine geometrically moulded plaster ceiling.
For the late Mr. W. Murray Tuke of Saffron VValden, the
architect designed in 1866 a carved chimney-piece for his drawing-
room ; the design comprised birds and figures grouped round a
central column-flanked niche, while enclosed in three medallions
were to be sculptured, in low relief, the heads of three of Mr.
Tuke's children. It is not clear whether a second drawing-room
chimney-piece was designed for him in 1876, or whether the first
design, having remained in abeyance for ten years, was altered,
for we find Mr. Tuke writing in the latter year that he would like
six children represented, four girls and two boys, two heads in
each quatrefoil. Bentley at this time also prepared designs for
a panelled and painted ceiling and dado in the drawing-room.
Between 1881-6 were designed several decorative fitments
for the Hon. Richard Strutt's house, 70, Eccleston Square. They
included the formation of a music-room by enlarging the dining-
room, and erecting an organ screen therein. A panelled dado
and carved chimney-piece (illustrated) in dark walnut formed
part of the new fittings of the room. Later an organ case and
seat, and some very beautiful bookcases, also in carved walnut,
in an unmistakably " Bentleyesque " treatment of Renaissance
design, were made. The organ, by Lewis, and the movable fittings
are now, we understand, in Mr. Strutt's present dwelling, Rayleigh
House, Chelsea Embankment.
Bentley's old friend. Professor Barff, having in 1884 taken a
house at Regent's Park, No. 3, Lodge Place, he was asked to
improve it by carrying forward the front to the right of the
garden entrance, whereby the drawing-room and the bedroom
above it were enlarged ; and he threw out very pretty bow
windows in both these rooms. The dining-room also received
^1 ll
I 8
Fig. 46. — Chimney piece and Fibbplaob, 70. Eccleston Squabe.
492 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
some enlargement, the style adopted being that popularly known
as Queen Anne.
In 1881 he superintended the repairs and decoration of No. 4,
Earl's Terrace, Kensington, for Baron A. von Hiigel ; the work
included the designing of a new chimney-piece and some book-
cases for the study, and a screen for the top floor.
For Havilland Hall, near Taunton, Bentley appears to have
planned, at the request of General de Havilland, a new entrance,
staircase, windows, and stables in 1883. Whether the work was
ever completed we know not ; the memorandum of the arcliitect's
commission is in his diary for 1887 crossed through, and he has
written the words " In memoriam " across, for the poor old soldier
of fortune had by then shuffled off, together with this mortal coil,
all his financial embarrassments.
At No. 45, Buckland Crescent, N.W., the residence of the late
Mr. Harris Heal, Bentley made certain striking improvements,
both within and without, in 1889. Two rooms were thrown into
one, to form a large drawing-room, new chimney-pieces were designed
for this and the dining-room, the latter a charming example of
the employment as a decorative feature of his favourite swags
of fruitage. The dining-room windows were altered to form an
attractive feature ; moreover, the house was entirely re-decorated.
Inter alia, three carved and gilt mirror frames of exquisite design
formed part of the adornment ; a photograph of one of these
appears in Plate XCIII.
Sandholme, the house of his brother, Mr. Robert Bentley,
Alderman and several times Maj'or of Doncaster, was thoroughly
overhauled and decorated in 1890 ; the most noteworthy addition
is the very pretty arcaded wooden screen across the hall to break
the direct view of the staircase from the street entrance.
He designed certain extensions of the house at Taunton
known as " Bishop's Hull " for the late Mr. H. T. Manlcy in 1889.
The original scheme provided a billiard-room, three additional
bedrooms, bathroom, etc., and arrangements for remodelling
the offices and building a garden entrance, at a cost of about
DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE 493
£1,250. Ultimately the plans were cut down and everything
omitted save the alteration to the garden entrance and the re-
modelling of the offices, which cost about £600. Bentley seems
to have wasted a good deal of time over this finally unsatisfactory
matter.
Manor Farm, Bramley, Gvildford. — The proposed alterations
and additions to this old farmhouse for Mr. Harold Courage were
another commission of 1890 which for some reason came to
naught, probably because the client, a son of Bentley's friend,
the late Mrs. Robert Courage, of 56, Queen's Gate, determined
instead to build a new house for himself on a hilly site known
as Derryswood, also near Guildford. Bentley prepared designs
in 1894 for a sumptuous gabled house of red brick, with half-
timbered upper storey. The splendid proportion and fine details
of this Tudor house, with its stone mullions, its graceful timber-
work, its richly carved barge-boards, and its turret cupola were
to be enhanced by the dignified setting of a terraced garden.
The estimates, alas ! amounted to over £11,000 ; but to suit
Mr. Courage's wishes, a reduction of £2,300, by omitting terraces,
cupola, and certain panelling, and using less costly materials, was
arrived at, and the client hoped in the January of '95 to be in a
position to carry out the plan. His mother had written her
entire approval : " I think the house will be quite perfect. I
only wish that I may live to see it built," a consummation which
neither parent nor son were to enjoy. Harold Courage took up
his residence at Snowdenham in the meanwhile, which Bentley
altered internally somewhat ; the hall and boudoir were decorated,
and the drawing-room remodelled. Some small cottages were
also built upon the estate.
Among minor items of decoration more or less domestic in
character, may be noted some painted decoration in the library
of Lincoln's Inn in 1869, done in collaboration with Mr. West-
lake; certain decorations designed for the Tivoli Restaurant,
now pulled down, in the Strand in 1883, which comprised a
chimney-piece in the room above the grill, and mirrors and
n— 11
494 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
sconces ; and the decoration in 1873 of the yacht Cambria for
Sir Andrew Walker (as he afterwards became) ; this commission
was the cause of a slight disaster to the architect, who, when
inspecting the vessel berthed at Cowes, somehow slipped and
sprained his ankle. The work included general repairs and
decoration to the cabin accommodation, besides certain furnish-
ings which were carved by Knox, the whole costing a little over
£500.
Presbyteries. — The clergy house at St. Francis's Church, Notting
Hill, the first Bentley built, has already been remarked upon in
the chapter dealing with his very early work. Followed in 1872
for the Jesuit community at Farm Street, Grosvenor Square, the
plans for a new house and elementary school, designed to occupy
a site adjoining 111, Mount Street. Enlargement of the adjoining
chtirch of the Immaculate Conception by means of a new chapel,
aisle, and entrance was at the same time contemplated and
planned. The plans failed to meet the approval of the ground
landlord, the Duke of Westminster, and were amended. Finally,
a year later, Bentley was desired to prepare others for a site in
Farm Street Mews, to include also new sacristies. The project
seems to have remained in abeyance for two or three years, to
be finally dropped in 1876. During this period he was engaged
in making certain plans for additions to the Jesuit novitiate house,
Manresa, at Roehampton, which were also mostly abandoned.
He was at Doncaster on February 1st, 1876, to take dimen-
sions of the ground adjoining St. Peter's Catholic Church, for
the purpose of planning a house. The builder to whom the
contract was first entrusted became bankrupt; but in spite of
the difiiculties and expense entailed by this failure and the
necessity for completing the work with a second contract, the
house when finished had cost less than the original estimate, which
the architect justly thought matter for congratulation. Though
the little red brick dwelling is simple enough and well fitted for
its purpose, in every detail there is abundance of refinement and
charm. Out of Bentley's total fees in connection with this work
DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE 495
(amounting to £95) we find he subscribed over £30 towards the
building fund.
The presbytery of St. Mary's, Cadogan Street, built on the
north side of this church (Bentley's first important ecclesiastical
commission) was planned in 1879, at a cost of £2,740 ; it is a
brick edifice, simple in outline and in most details, to harmonize
with the exterior plainness of the Early English church, and pro-
vides accommodation for three or four priests.
The presbytery adjoining the church of St. Peter and St.
Edward, Palace Street, Westminster, begun in 1880, is a Re-
naissance structure somewhat in the style of Wren with attractive
external detail, and is cleverly contrived to suit the exigencies of
a narrow and awkward corner site upon which had stood tht
little old dwelling that formerly served to house the two priests in
charge of the mission ; the row of its fellows having previously
been demolished by the Corporation to convert narrow and
crooked Palace Street into an open thoroughfare between Victoria
Street and Buckingham Palace Road.
This opening of the street made it possible to give the Oblates'
church a front entrance, which, since the present church is built
above the original partly underground one, subsequently converted
into schools, necessitated a fairly high ascending stairway within
the porch. The frontage to Palace Street is 49 ft. ; the depth of
site available over a length of 23 ft. at the church end was
only 7 ft., while the maximum depth of the remainder was but
20 ft.
The presbytery consists of a basement in which are the usual
offices and an area entrance from Wilfred Street ; a ground floor,
with a pretty arched entrance enclosed by a wrought iron gate
and high railings from this side street, a lobby and two waiting
rooms ; a first floor devoted to a sitting-room for the clergy ; a
second providing a bedchamber and sitting-room ; while on the
third there are two more bedrooms. The materials are yellow
brick with red brick quoins and dressings, slates, and some terra-
cotta for the moulded decoration of the church entrance. Fine
496 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
swags of fruit and flowers are thus effectively introduced into the
architrave.
Another noteworthy feature of the elevation to Palace Street
is a great oriel window glazed with leaded quarries, which gives
light to the stairway and lobby of the church. Stone is employed
for the other details of this entrance, Bentley appears to have
completed his work by re-decorating the sanctuary in 1884, though
no trace of this painted adornment now remains.
The fine presbytery designed in 1884-5, to complete the plans
of the church of Corpus Christi on Brixton Hill, remains, with
the nave of that structure, yet to be built.
The charming little clergy house adjoining the church of the
Holy Rood, Watford, is harmoniously designed in the style of
the late fifteenth century. Its date is 1889. Accommodation is
provided for two priests ; the materials are rubble, with rough cast
to face the upper storey, tiles for roofing, red brick for chimneys
and stone for door and window dressings. The two-storey front-
age is in alignment with the east end of the church (Plate LV).
Commercial Buildings. — There can be no question that certain
buildings erected for commercial purposes were, comparatively
speaking, the most pecuniarily profitable commissions that ever
came Bentley's way — since the detail, whether for warehouse,
distillery, or factory, although careful and good like that in all
his work, was necessarily limited in quantity, and such commis-
sions served therefore as a sort of " make- weight " against the
immense and costly labour expended on detail in other works,
whether of ecclesiastical or domestic purport.
A very good client of Bentley's in this respect was the late Mr.
W. R. Sutton, who built up an immense country carrier's business
and died a few years back worth some two millions and a quarter.
Every enterprise this man embarked on seemed literally to turn
into gold. Among other ventures he bought up a distillery
business, known as Sutton, Cardew & Co., for which in 1871 Bentley
erected large premises in Hill Street, Finsbury, at a cost of £7,500.
In 1876 were begun the plans of the great carrier's ware-
DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE 497
house in Golden Lane, E.C., which was to include sorting and
packing departments and large stables, besides the necessary
offices for the clerical staff. Enormous initial trouble and expense
had to be incurred before building operations could begin, since
the site, or a part of it, was an old burial ground not far from
Bunhill Row. This dismal, neglected spot, such a city cemetery
as Dickens has described in his Christmas Carol, had become
overcrowded with burials in the disastrous cholera epidemic of
1840 and had therefore necessarily been closed and left, a disgrace
to the authorities, to moulder, uncared for, to a miserable decay.
It was, in fact, almost a plague-spot that it was designed to
obliterate with this new building. The necessary permissions being
obtained, some of the bodies were removed, and the rest enclosed
beneath a massive bed of concrete 8 or 10 ft. thick, it being part of
the arcliitect's duty to supervise the gruesome task from time to
time, to ensure that all should be done reverently and in order.
The brick warehouse, constructed on concrete piers, has a
long frontage to Golden Lane, in which notable features are a
well-proportioned arched van entrance to the yard, and the
imposing tall window above it. The detail is of Renaissance type,
while an effective use is made of herring-bone brickwork in the
copings. The cost of the building was just under £33,000. Most
of the furniture in the clerical offices was, we believe, made from
Bentley's designs.
Mr. Sutton also proposed at this time (1879) to build a row of
cottages and shops on some property with a long frontage at
Merton Rush ; the architect prepared plans at his request, but
the scheme was ultimately dropped.
In 1876 Bentley made designs for certain additions to the
organ factory of Messrs. Lewis & Co. in Shepher'd's Lane, Brixton,
S.W. ; another example of the evolution from a most unpromising
opportunity of a quite pleasing result. A new building room
formed the most important part of the plan.
A factory for the production of oil-printed wall hangings,
known as the Muraline Factory, in Milkwood Road, Brixton, was
498 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
erected by Bentley between 1882 and 1890, That he took a
great interest in the three types of wall hangings, muraline, duro-
textile, and embossed tapestry, manufactured by this company is
evidenced by the numerous designs he made for them and his
constant utilization of their productions in his own house and
others with which he was concerned.
The great Corn Exchange at Sheffield owns certain details
designed by Bentley ; among which are the heraldic carvings of
the principal entrance (1881). In another Yorkshire centre of
commerce there were (perhaps still are) some internal decora-
tions in which Bentley as a young man had a part. We refer
to the G.N.R. Hotel, Leeds, the architects of which were the
Hadfields, father and son, for whom between 1865-8 their young
friend Bentley prepared designs for decorative plaster ceilings in
coffee, dining, and writing rooms and the passage between them ;
besides a screen for the entrance hall.
For his friend Mr. S. Taprell Holland, Bentley drew, in 1873,
designs for alterations in the front of No. 77, Hatton Garden, the
centre of a row of seven Georgian houses, several of which were
utilised as the offices of an assaying company. The conception
was to attain the architectural effect of a single imposing structure
by addition of classical pilasters and entablature, the groiuid floor
being opened up in the centre to form an arched cart entrance.
Ultimately this last was the only part of the scheme carried out,
and the simple Georgian fenestration and unadorned brick fronts
remain as they were.
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CHAPTER XX
DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE (ll)
(a) Scholastic and Monastic Buildings : St. Thomas's Seminary, Hamineram^ith — St. John's
Preparatory School, Beaumont — Redemptorist Monastery, Clapham. (&) Ele-
mentary Schools: St. Francis's, Notting Hill — St. Mary's Orphanage, Blackheath
(additions) — Puckeridge, Herts. — Catholic Schools, Watford — Catholic Schools,
Brixton.
We have now to consider, among others of Hke purpose, two
scholastic buildings which were milestones in the architect's
career. Each played a prominent part in bringing their creator
before public notice and well to the forefront of his profession.
Indeed, St. Thomas's Seminary and St. John's School, Beaumont,
have alike, one may venture to assert, aroused no criticism but
that of unqualified praise and approval. The history of the former
dates from a time of great stress and financial anxiety and marks
the opening of a period of new hope and ultimate success.
St. Thomas''s Seminary. — Monsignor Henry Edward Manning
was elevated to the archbishopric of Westminster in April 1865,
on the death of Cardinal Wiseman, his greatly beloved prede-
cessor. Among the many diocesan anxieties that had weighed
heavily on the declining years of the veteran prelate, foremost,
perhaps, was the dearth of zealous, well-trained priests available
for mission work in his diocese. This was a want brooking no
further delay and crying urgently indeed for a bold and immediate
policy. Dr. Manning, wholesouledly in favour of ecclesiastical
education in English seminaries at home, was of opinion that each
diocese should be provided with a well-equipped institution of
its own, managed on the lines laid down by the Tridentine Decrees.
Despite strenuous opposition, he had led the way to this reform
499
500 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
in 1857 by establishing at St. Edmund's College, Ware, then the
joint seminary for the Westminster and South wark dioceses, a few
of his own Oblate priests to supervise the education of the candi-
dates for the priesthood. This arrangement giving rise to an
immense amount of irritation and annoyance among the clergy, was
soon cancelled by Cardinal Wiseman's desire and the Oblates were
withdrawn from St. Edmund's in 1861. In 1868 the new Arch-
bishop decided to found a great new seminary in a spot sufficiently
near Westminster to be under his close personal supervision. Early
in that year Bentley was instructed to survey and report upon a
building at Hammersmith, near the High Road, selected with a
view to housing seminarists until — funds being collected and build-
ing completed — it should be possible to transfer them to the new
structure contemplated for their reception.
Cupola House, as it was then called, had a rather interesting
history, possessing, as it did, an unbroken conventual record of
close on two hundred years in a period when such establishments
in England were rare and far to seek. The convent of a com-
munity of Benedictine nuns (tradition states that, even prior to
the Reformation, its site was occupied by conventual buildings),
it was purchased for them in 1685 by one Mrs. Frances Bedin-
field, who, with the community of which she was abbess, had been
invited to settle in England by Charles the Second's Queen,
Catharine of Braganza. These nuns established a school at
Hammersmith, a healthy district of pleasant country lanes
winding down to "Silver Thames" — a school which flourished
until the French Revolution. In those evil days the English
Benedictine nuns at Dunkirk were expelled from their convent,
and lay for eighteen months in a prison of the Republic, until
in 1795 they succeeded in obtaining their freedom and per-
mission to return to England. The Hammersmith community
had in a century waned and waned until at length its survivors
numbered but three ; so, by agreement with these three, the
English fugitives found asylum in the nearly empty convent and
took over the school. They became popularly known in Hammer-
DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE 501
smith as the Black Ladies. The convent must have been
surrounded by ample grounds ; certainly the site was large
enough to commend itself powerfully as just what was required
for the diocesan seminary to Archbishop Manning. He straight-
way acquired it from the Benedictine nuns, who removed to
Teignmouth in April 1868.
We may now return to Bentley's instructions received at an
interview with Manning immediately the diocese came into vacant
possession of the convent building, as recorded in his diary of
May 14th. He visited Cupola House the following day to discover
and report that it was in a most shocking state of dilapidation;
a week later Archbishop and architect met there, and decided on
certain additions and repairs imperative to render the existing
buildings possible for immediate occupation. The Archbishop's
plans for the future were then disclosed to Bentley, who, in
joyous exultation at this unexpected turn in the tide of fortune,
hurried to acquaint his good friends at Sheffield of the golden
dawning hope. To Charles Hadfield on May 18th he wrote :
"You will be glad to hear that the Archbishop has given me
the seminary for the diocese to do. From what I hear it will
cost £30,000, although probably only a portion will be proceeded
with at once."
Directly Cupola House was fit for habitation, certain of the
Ware students were transferred thither under the presidency of
Dr. Weathers (later Bishop of Amycla).
Although Manning's appeal to the laity for funds received a
prompt and magnificent response, Bentley had to wait over
seven years before the fiat went forth that he was to proceed
with the immediate preparation of plans for the new seminary ;
to be precise, the Cardinal (as he then had become) called on him
on September 17th, 1875. Said the Cardinal: "The design must
be simple but solid ; no ornaments, but as to materials the best
must be used, for they were going to bviild not for themselves
only, but for posterity." The rough sketches, ready by the
following January for the architect to carry to Westminster and
502 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
unroll before his client, represented a handsome group of build-
ings, surrounding an inner cloistered quadrangle, with an outer
group arranged round three sides of a quadrangle, forming a
spacious courtyard. The style adopted was Tudor, to be
materialized in fine red brick with Oulton stone dressings and
Staffordshire roofing tiles. The accompanying ground plan
sufficiently sets forth the general arrangement of the structure
(Plate LXX).
Manning's approval was qualified by a criticism of the cloister
arrangement, for which portion of the design he desired the
architect to produce an amended sketch. Otherwise the plans
were passed, and Bentley was instructed to proceed immediately
with the finished drawings, on the understanding that the build-
ing of the north and west wings was to be begun at once, the
kitchen, scullery, and stores likewise, these last to be roofed in
temporarily at the first-floor level. The Cardinal continued very
difficult to please over the matter of the cloisters, and indeed,
later on, was inclined to be obstinate with regard to internal
details generally, for skirmishes frequently took place over such
important matters as the position of windows and doors, en-
counters in which apparently the architect was sometimes
worsted. Manning's idea was that the cloister should be arranged
in wide bays with the piers inside and buttresses outside, dividing
them to get as much light as possible. Finally, since the sketch
produced on these lines failed to please him, Bentley agreed to
make the cloister internally more like an arcade.
The foundation stone was laid on July 7th, 1876, the Feast of
St. Thomas of Canterbury ; three years later the Cardinal wrote
in a biographical note : " The building of two-thirds of the
seminary for £18,000, which is paid — the last third I hope to
begin and, please God, finish." To which he added subsequently :
"Now completed, except the chapel. The whole cost £32,000.'"
The contract for the east wing was signed in January 1879 ;
and the chapel and infirmary, which complete it and form its
1 The total estimated cost to include fees and sundry expenses was £37,000.
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DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE 503
continuation to the southern boundary (road frontage) of the
property, were begun after endless amendments and ruthless
simplification of the plan in 1883. Among items thus reduced
or excised was the tracery of the ante-chapel windows, lightened
at the Cardinal's wish ; while the belfry, although his Eminence
had consented to the preparation of the design, was never carried
out. Certain additions were made to the west wing in 1885, and
the infirmary, the lodge, and the front boundary wall with its
imposing carriage entrance were completed in 1888.
To describe the building in some detail, one may begin with
the chapel, opened by the Cardinal on July 14th, 1884, exactly
eight years and one week after the foundation stone of the main
building was laid, and dedicated to the Holy Ghost, In his address
at the opening ceremony, the Cardinal-Archbishop gave two
reasons for choosing one dedication for the house and another for
the chapel. The first rested on an historical basis ; the first
foundation of a Saxon Christian King in the city of Rome was a
hospice for pilgrims, called to tliis day Santo Spiritu in Sassia. It
was removed eventually to another site, the Church of Holy
Trinity, which, later, when our great martyr shed his blood in
defence of the Church's liberties, received his name and became
known as the Church of St. Thomas of Canterbury. The second
reason was of a theological natvu"e, and rested on the office
appropriated to the Holy Ghost, the third Person of the Blessed
Trinity, whereby He is the illuminator, the sanctifier, the
perfector of mankind ; and thus especially the guide of that
steady stream of trained apostles and evangelists wliich was to
issue from the chapel's hallowed walls. It is sad to tliink that its
founder's high purpose was to be fulfilled for less than a decade
from the utterance of his burning words of faith, spoken under
the emotion of a mighty task achieved.
The style of the chapel is Perpendicular ; in plan it is a
parallelogram 112 ft. long by 25 ft. broad; the height is 35 ft.
It consisted originally of chapel, ante-chapel, organ chamber
separated from the choir by a handsome stone screen, and double
504 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
sacristies connecting the chapel with the cloisters. It is lighted
by a range of three-light clerestory windows and a large seven-
light window of three storeys at what is now the rubrical
east end. Actually, of course, the main axis lies north and south.
Intermediate with the side windows are beautifully carved stone
corbels, from which spring the roof principals, dividing the ceiling
into bays, which again are sub-divided into panels by longitudinal
and transverse moulded ribs. Laterally the principals are con-
nected by arches of wood enclosing and taking the line of the
window heads, the spandrels of these arches being carved with
sacred and other monograms ; they support a very rich and bold
cornice. The ceiling of the ante-chapel is similarly treated, only
the panelling is continuous and a beautiful line of carved brattish-
ing is added to the cornice, while the side arches are omitted.
This portion of the chapel is lighted by coupled two-light windows
of two storeys with traceried heads. A rich and effectively
moulded arch, rising from compound piers with elegantly carved
caps, divides the ante-chapel from the choir. At the label
terminals are figures of SS. Peter and Edward, the patrons of
Westminster.
It should be premised that since the seminary came into the
possession of its present owners, the chapel has been completely
rearranged ; what was the ante-chapel is now the sanctuary, and
its original entrance from the corridor is blocked up ; across the
present " west " end has been thrown a screen and organ gallery,
with the oaken stalls for the religious occupying the floor space
on either side and along the screen, which has an opening in the
centre to serve as a community entrance. The present general
entrance to the chapel was originally the sacristy doorway, the two
sacristies having been thrown into the corridor and the new ones
constructed beyond it.
The corridor leading to the chapel is extremely picturesque,
with its long lines of beautiful mullioned vaulted windows and
ribbed ceiling springing from a moulded cornice. In external
effect, observes a writer in the Tablet on the occasion of the
DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE 505
opening, the chapel is a great addition to the group of seminary
buildings : " the sacristies abutting on to the chapel, the high
clerestory, the bold projecting muUions and massive gable end
next the street form a very picturesque and characteristic group
which, making allowance for its newness, resembles some of the
college chapels in Oxford and Cambridge."
It must be added, as regards the chapel's present condition,
that the little chamber thrown out on the " north " side and
enclosed with an exquisite stone screen designed to carry the
organ, has been converted into a Lady Chapel, its stone altar
and wooden reredos being the work of Mr. Percy Lamb. None
of the other fittings now in the chapel were designed by Bentley ;
and the eye shrinks, as from a blow, from the frightful stained
glass, in conventional arabesque patterns, with which the refined
tracery of the great window of the chancel has been desecrated.
Externally, the appearance of the chapel wing has been altered
by the erection against its lower wall of a row of reception
" parlours."
The photograph of the courtyard (Plate LXXI) shows how its
fourth side is formed by the low cloister, above whose roof may be
discerned the two beautiful stone oriels of the north wing. An
effective feature, seen from the street but impossible to reproduce
photographically, is the perspective of the two ranges of plain
yet admirably proportioned brick chimney shafts upstanding from
the inner faces of the east and west wings. The commonplace
elementary schools on the left of the courtyard may for the
moment be consigned to oblivion by the simple expedient of
turning one's back on them while appreciating at leisure the
charming grouping confronting the spectator in the main building.
Passing through the cloister entrance and out at the other
side into the inner quadrangle (Plate LXXII), one comes to savotu-
at closer quarters its atmosphere of ancient peace. The creepers,
the trees, the grass, have grown apace, indeed the first now
unduly shroud the cloister fenestration ; but clear, though
mellowed by time and London atmosphere, stand out upon the
506 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
twin oriels of the north wing the sculptured arms of the pontiff
Pius IX and the Cardinal, Henry Edward Manning, in whose
days the work was accomplished. The dedication on the founda-
tion stone will be found in the wall of the north wing on the
garden side ; it reads with a fine sonorous dignity and simphcity :
SEMINARII HUJUS LAPIS PRIMARIUS
IN HONOREM S. THOM^ CANTUARIENSIS
ARCHIEPISCOPI ET MARTYRIS
IMMUNITATUM UNIVERSALIS ECCLESI^
NEC NGN CLERI IN ANGLIA PR^CIPUE PATRONI
IN FESTO TRANSLATIONIS GLORIOSI MARTYRIS ANNO MDCCCLXXVI
PIG P.P. IX BEATiE MEMORI^ REGNANTE
AB HENRICO EDUARDO
TITULO S.S. ANDREW ET GREGGRII R.E. PRESB. CARDINALI
ARCHIEPISCOPG WESTMGNASTERIENSI
PGSITUS EST
ARCHITECTG JOANNE BENTLEY
OPIFICE JOANNE BIRD
ADSPIRANTE DEO FLOREAT IN ^VUM
Three Cornish choughs, the arms of the patron saint, St. Thomas
of Canterbury, may be observed sculptured above the north or
garden entrance. The newer building, which now adjoins the
north wing at its western end, was added (since Bentley's death)
by Mr, J, A. Marshall : it is used for the purposes of a secondary
day school, and comprises cloak-rooms, work-rooms, and refectory,
connected with the main building by the rooms over the archway
entrance (Plate LXXIV).
Besides the chapel, the main features of the interior are, of
course, the beautiful cloisters and the great common rooms,
refectory, library, etc., on the garden side. The refectory, superb
in its proportions, is 55 ft. long by 23 ft. 8 in. wide, a fine apart-
ment to whose dignity the panelling, the massive ceiling beams.
Plate LXXIV. — Hamjiersmith Seminary: Gardex Entrance.
[Photo, Cyril Ellis.)
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DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE 507
the wide stone fireplace, the noble windows affording a view of
the shady garden, and the deep window bay at the further end
one and all contribute. On the panelling to the left of the
chimney-piece is appropriately carved the reminder : " Non in
solo pane vivit homo " (Plate LXXV).
The numerous small students' rooms on the first floor look on
to the quadrangle, the corridor being on the outer side of each
wing. The second-floor rooms are larger, and are now used for
secondary school purposes, for soon after the death of Cardinal
Manning the building ceased to be the diocesan seminary, and
was purchased, as though Providence had willed the site to con-
tinue in conventual usage, by the nuns of the Sacred Heart Order
in 1893 for £37,000, the original estimated cost of the whole
building. The actual cost was, we believe, something over
£38,500.
St. John's Preparatory School, Beaumont. — In another place
(p. 470) has briefly been noted the genesis of the educational insti-
tution at Old Windsor, parent of this junior school, which is
set in the midst of historic spots whose names will live for ever
in our country's history. The old school buildings of Beaumont,
dating in part from the eighteenth century, which at first housed
both senior and junior schools, had by 1883 become wholly
inadequate for the numbers seeking admission. Primarily in
contemplation was the entire rebuilding of the college at a cost
of £150,000 ; at least, this version of the scheme was communi-
cated to Bentley by his friend Professor Barff (Professor of
Chemistry at Beaumont) in an interview on May 1st, when it w^as
arranged that the architect should accompany him to the school
a day or two later to discuss the matter and take instructions
from the rector, Father Cassidy. On this occasion it was decided
to erect a new building for the junior or preparatory school, the
site whereof, at some distance from the old house, was selected
on high and healthy ground on the Surrey side of the estate.
Bentley seems to have been occupied on the drawings for a
considerable time ; but by 1887 operations were well in hand and
508 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
the school was completed for the opening which took place on
Tuesday, September 25th, 1888. Two hundred guests were
entertained at luncheon by the rector, Father O'Hare, and sub-
sequently the Bishop of Southwark blessed and declared open
the new building. We learn that Bentley, who was present, was
overwhelmed on all sides with congratulations on the result
of his labours. From an account of the opening in the Tablet of
that week are culled the following remarks :
The school " stands on an eminence near the boundary of
* Priest's Hill,' and is therefore on the Surrey side of the county
ditch which runs between the college and the school. The view
from the windows of the school is perhaps one of the finest in
England, and extends as far as the eye can reach over the well-
wooded plains of Berkshire ; in the distance rise the walls of
Windsor Castle, flanked by the spires and antique towers of Eton,
while the historic field of Runnymede and a distant view of the
Thames form a picturesque foreground.
" The style of architecture selected is English Renaissance
of the seventeenth century, or perhaps more correctly speaking,
a continuation of the mode prevalent at that period. An earlier
style has been selected for the chapel, which has the effect of em-
phasizing its religious aspect by contrast with the rest of the
building. The materials employed are red bricks and tiles from
the immediate neighbourhood and Monk Park stone. Special
attention has been devoted to the baths, heating, drainage, and
ventilation, for which purposes the latest improvements in sanitary
science have been adopted. The plan of the building is quad-
rangular. From the west side of the principal fayade extends the
infirmary, and from the east side the chapel on the ground floor ;
the outer faces are spanned by an elliptical arch surmounted by a
balustrade, and flanked by flat pilasters gracefully carved on the
face. The arched recess between the projecting bays forms a
covered front, where the principal doorway opens into a large
entrance hall. A tall quaint dormer overlooks the entrance, and
behind it rises the roof, on which rests a cupola containing a hand-
/
11—12
510 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
some clock. The infirmary wing is so constructed that it can be
completely isolated from the rest of the school, and is provided
with a separate entrance. The building is throughout lighted
with electricity, designed by Mr, J. N. Shoolbred, and comprising
the most modern improvements."
The authors of the History of Beaumont ^ have also words of
unstinted praise for the beauty of the junior school : " Both without
and within it bears the stamp of Bentley's genius, for apart from
the general charm of a graceful pile of buildings, everywhere
surprises lie in wait for him who has eyes to see. Such are the
two quaintly-coped gables on the infirmary wing, with the cor-
belled chimney-stack — a mere funnel that has become a thing of
exquisite beauty — rising above them and bearing its carved panel
representing St, Roch's dog carrying his loaf of bread : or the
carving on the flat pilasters by the front door, with the medallion
busts of St, Stanislaus and St. Aloysius, and the sacred badge of
the Society of Jesus, carved on the keystone of the elliptical arch ;
or the tall, quaint dormer, behind which rises the cupola of
many sides that is the clock tower. Inside the hall there are the
bold chimney-piece, the doors with their curious entablatures,
the marble mosaic floor, the stained glass of the oriel windows —
everywhere the enduring expression of high and delicate thought."
In neither of the above brief accounts is mention made of the
terrace garden, laid out in broad grassy sweeps surrounding a
gravelled drive, which forms so attractive an introduction to the
front of the building ; it is enclosed, as may be seen in the photo-
graph, by a balustrade of brick and stone, whence by flights of
stone steps to right and left, descending to the lower terrace and
its central flight, is achieved the descent of the steep embankment to
the low-lying fields intervening between St. John's and the senior
school. With the aid of the perspective view and the plan the general
disposition of the building will be clearly appreciated, while various
details of beauty and interest both witliin and without are illus-
trated by photographic plates (figs. 47 and 48, and Plate LXXVII).
* Published by J. Griffin, Manresa Press, Roehampton.
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Plate LXXVII.— S. John's School, Beaumont : JIain Kntuance and Tebkaue.
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512 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
It will be observed that the ground-floor rooms of the central
portion are designed for the reception and entertainment of
guests ; the doors on either side of the elegant entrance hall
open respectively into drawing and dining rooms, both with
wainscoted dados and fine details to ornament chimney-pieces,
doors, and windows. The woodwork throughout the house is
painted, generally in Bentley's favourite tone of dark greenish-
blue; the plaster-work above being as a rule white. The paint
chosen for the hall is in another of his favourite tints, well
known to those familiar with his colour schemes, namely a mellow
Venetian red. The stained glass in the upper lights of the great
bow windows of the entrance displays, within enwreathed medal-
lions, heads of the twelve most prominent among the many
staunch Englishmen who suffered death for their faith and
principles in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The
arabesque design, executed mostly in grisaille, and the ornamental
leading of the quarries in the lower lights are both extremely
graceful (Plate LXXV).
The charming bow-windowed turret rooms above the hall are
used as sitting-rooms for priests and masters. In the east and
west wings are contained the school buildings proper, play-room,
refectory, study place, class-rooms, and dormitories, spacious,
light and airy chambers with details as attractive and harmonious
as those in the reception rooms, though necessarily characterized
by greater simplicity. In the play-room, for example, the wains-
coted deep blue dado, the broad and rather low arched recesses
on either side of the fireplace, the high moulded chimney-piece of
beautiful form, with its blue and white painted tiles, the tables
of fumed wax- polished oak, designed by the architect especially for
this purpose, the polished wood block floor, are seen in a wholesome
flood of sunlight poured through the four great windows, wliich
are slightly recessed between the buttresses. One can scarcely
conceive a pleasanter apartment for children to play in, when
they cannot be out of doors.
In the refectory one notes again some of the furniture specially
DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE 513
designed for the school equipment by Bentley ; the oak tables,
octagonal and oblong in form, with simply turned pillar legs, are
models of strength and simplicity; the stretchers in the former
case are X shaped ; in the latter a longitudinal central bar is
united to the transverse end bars. Furniture, silver and china
ware, indeed practically all the original furnishings of the school,
were Bentley's personal choice, selected or designed with the same
regard to harmony and fitness.
The wainscot dados are in certain cases constructed in a simple
and unusual fashion productive of excellent effect ; the narrow
vertical closely mortised planks being alternately slightly concave
and convex on surface, which gives to the coloured paint where-
with they are clothed a finely modulated tonality. The dor-
mitories are fitted with panelled cubicles, painted white ; their
floors are of polished wood blocks, while light and ventilation are
abundantly supplied by rows of windows set high on either side,
and three tall windows at the end of the room. The ceiling being
slightly vaulted, enhances the sense of airy spaciousness.
The chapel, designed in the Perpendicular style, consists of nave
and chancel, beneath an uninterrupted vaulted roof, coffered (as may
be seen in the illustration, Plate LXXVIII), and springing from a
broad and finely moulded and carved oaken cornice. The gallery
for organ and choir is projected at the west end, above a row of
wainscoted and carved stalls for the resident priests and masters.
The sanctuary is lighted by a great east window of five and by
side windows of two lights ; while the nave has three triple-light
windows on the right side and two on the left. The chapel is
entered from the cloister. The photograph of the interior, supple-
mented by those giving details of the carved oaken stalls, conveys-
some idea of the quiet charm of this lovely chapel. To the tone
of the fumed oak, which is warm and not too light, contrast
has been obtained by painting the west gallery, also constructed
in oak, a deep blue, a procedure which has aroused adverse com-
ment, though personally we think Bentley's bold expedient of
employing colour across this end is amply justified by the result.
514 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
The panelling of the sanctuary, completed after the architect's
death by his son, includes the two canopied niches right and left
of the altar. The two others to be observed right and left in
the foreground just by the sanctuary steps were not designed by
Bentley but were obtained from Beyaert of Bruges, who also
provided the four wooden statues.
The altar, built of grey Derbyshire marble, was the joint gift
of Father Ignatius O'Gorman, Mr. Paul CuUen, and Mr, and Mrs.
Rendel ; its frontal, very original in design, is constructed with a
five-fold arcading, whose outward curving shafting produces a
fan-like effect. The panels are filled with slightly concave slabs of
cipoUino, a clear pale green marble of excellent figure. The
painted reredos is in the form of a triptych in a gilt frame very
richly carved and burnished, whose central subject is the
Crucifixion.
The delicate silver lamp which hangs before the altar, also
made from Bentley's designs, was presented by the Beaumont
Union. Of the stained glass in the sanctuary, given by Mrs,
Dalgleish-Bellasis, and the rich and beautiful tabernacle, mention
is made elsewhere (Chapters XXI and XXII) and therefore repeti-
tion may be avoided by referring the reader to those headings.
The cloister surrovuiding the quadrangle has recently — and
may one venture to say unhappily ? — received an extension in
the shape of a Lady Chapel, or shrine rather, in Italian classical
style from designs made by one of the brothers of the Society
in 1910.
Redemptorist Monastery, Clapham. — After forty years or so of
inadequate and makeshift community accommodation in the two
somewhat dilapidated Georgian houses adjoining the church of
St. Mary at Clapham, the Redemptorists resolved to sell the end
portion of their garden, and to apply the money thus obtained to
the erection of a new monastic building. Towards the close of
1891, Bentley had the sketch plans ready for inspection; the
amended drawings of the three wings composing the design appear
to have been finished by the early spring of the ensuing year. The
o
o
a
o
r/2
Plate LXXTX, — S. Joiis's School, JJeaumonp: Uktah.'^ of oakhn .Stalls in the Chapel.
1515
DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE 515
completed building was blessed and opened by Cardinal Vaughan
in January 1893, an occasion on which the community enter-
tained to tea all their parishioners, both men and women, and
gave to the latter an unique opportunity of inspecting the new
house, and of disproving, were they so minded, certain lurid tales
of subterranean dungeons existent even in that year of grace in
the imagination of local nonconformity. The last guest departed,
the "enclosure" was put upon the inner portal, and since that day
no woman's foot has ever penetrated beyond the parlours out-
side it.
By the sale of the major part of their land, the Redemptorists
had raised funds sufficient to meet half the estimated cost of the
new monastery, or, inclusive of the church extension and repara-
tion then in hand, enough to defray a third of the total cost.
The balance of the monastic building account was defrayed from
the resources of the order ; while the congregation, by means of
entertainments, donations, and subscriptions spread over several
years, met the cost of that part of the work whereby its members
chiefly were benefited.
Although a good-sized piece of ground remained available for
building, it was bound to be somewhat awkwardly affected by the
encroachment of the church's new lateral extension.' The erection
of a monastic building of the size required in one block would
have involved the sacrifice of most of the remainder of the garden,
thereby depriving the community of a treasured opportunity for
air and exercise. Bentley being desirous to minimize their sacrifice
as far as might be, planned to arrange his building in three
wings, and by utilizing the unbroken frontage on the left or north
boundary of the site for a long and narrow block devoted to the
guest rooms and domestic offices, he thereby effected an economy
of space, and provided a solid screen to the purely community
portion of the building. The left wing, therefore, with one end
facing Park Road, is built flush with the pavement along the
small side street known as St. Alphonsus Road, and has a side
1 See p. 456.
518 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
or tradesmen's entrance towards the further end of the block.
On its church frontage this wing is united to the new north
transept by means of a low stone wall, with a doorway through
which entrance is gained to the central quadrangle, the four sides
of which are formed by the buildings of the left wing, the com-
munity wing, the library wing, and the north transept. The
community wing is therefore parallel to the north transept, and
its main rooms face the garden at the back. The church, sacristies,
and private oratory are united to the monastic pile by the right
or library wing (Plate LXXX).
The building is three-storeyed, the details being mainly of
early fifteenth- century type, and the materials red brick, tiles, and
stone, the last employed but sparingly for doorways and for
window dressings on the ground floor. Stepped gables are terminal
features of the long left wing, the roof of its central portion being
flat and finished with asphalte to provide a quiet and retired spot
for the priests to walk in. These stepped brick gables with their
narrow stone copings, and the square open bell turret with its
leaded cupola, rising from the flat roof, are pleasing features in a
building whose obvious keynote is an enjoined and studied con-
ventual simplicity ; and indeed in spite of restrictions we
quickly recognize, here, there, and everywhere, that which one
never expects to miss in Bentley's work, namely, the powerfully
individualistic touches conferring a stamp as unmistakable as
though his signature were writ large for all the world to see on
every morsel of brick or masonry or metal work. As the eye meets
the curve over door or window opening, or the grasp falls on door
handle or window hasp of wrought iron, whose nervous, delicate
craftsmanship is withal absolutely fitted to its appointment, the
unspoken question is answered with another — " Bentley's ? —
whose else could it be ? " To say that he never condescended to
the use of shop-made fittings, could they possibly be avoided, is
but to assert the obvious.
The chief features visible from Park Road other than those
indicated are the wide arch of the main entrance and the rows of
Plate LXXX. — S. Mary's Redempiobist Monastery, Clapham : Plan
51S]
DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE 5l9
windows ; those on the ground floor consist of leaded casements
with attractive wrought iron fitments ; those of the upper storey
are, in compHance with practical requirements, sash windows, with
panes arranged in the pleasing proportion one associates with
English early eighteenth- century houses. The main entrance
porch in the left wing on its inner side has the door deeply set
back within the wide arched recess, which affords protection to
those awaiting admittance. On the wall to the left of, and just
above, the porch is affixed a stone block, displaying the sculp-
tured shield of arms of the Redemptorist Congregation (fig. 49).
Within the entrance hall or lobby, on the right is the Brother
Porter's small sanctum and a yet smaller " parlour " equipped
for use as a confessional for the infirm. The corridor runs on
the street side for the whole length of this wing; to the left of the
entrance there are the three parlours for callers, small rooms
whose doors, according to rule, are provided with glazed upper
panels. The corridor, interrupted on the right by the door of
the monastery proper, the "enclosure," continvies beyond it to
its junction at right angles with that of the community wing,
and yet further to the domestic regions and the side or tradesmen's
entrance in St. Alphonsus Road. The rooms on the upper floors
at the frontage end of the long wing are designed and reserved for
the accommodation of visitors, whether lay or secular, who come
to make retreats or to stay for other reasons at the monastery ; a
special suite is arranged for the bishop's use. The lay brothers'
cells occupy the further portion of this wing, while the garden
wing houses the clerical community, both as regards their common
and private rooms. Particularly charming is the garden front of
this wing, a view unfortunately entirely invisible to the man in
the street.
The private oratory, built over the new sacristies which now
adjoin the north transept, is lighted on the church side by means
of the two large traceried windows which originally pierced the
north wall of the chancel. Included with the old oratory fittings,
likewise transferred, was the tabernacle Bentley had designed for
520 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
it in 1867 in the time of the Rev. Robert A. Coffin, that saintly
man whose kindly interest and guidance had been so precious to
the young convert, then struggling against the set-back to his
professional advancement resultant from a change of religion.
Few were better qualified by experience to understand his
difficulties than Father Coffin, who had given up his pleasant
Oxford living to enter the Catholic Church, taking this momentous
step in 1845, and thus in submission preceding his intimate friend
Manning by five years. The latter, in the early years of his
priesthood in London, was a frequent visitor at St. Mary's, Clap-
ham, where Father Coffin fulfilled the office of rector and after-
wards of Provincial of the order, subsequently being raised to the
episcopate as Bishop of Southwark. He it was, a very old and
enfeebled pastor, who preached the sermon at the opening of
Bentley's Lady Chapel at St. Mary's in 1884.
Among other members of the Redemptorist Congregation to
whom the architect owed a special affection and held in grateful
remembrance were Father John O'Connor, rector during the
building of the above chapel ; Father O'Laverty, in whose
rectorate transept and monastery were erected; and Father John
Bennett, who during so many years governed the English Province.
Elementary Schools and Orphanages. — Bentley's first com-
mission in this category was the school in connection with St.
Francis's Church, Notting Hill, built in 1861 ; a yellow brick
building with a flat roof, intended to serve as a playground, which
on account of site limitations could not be provided in the usual
place. This, it will be remembered, was built nearly a decade
before the reign of the London School Board began. In 1870 it
was proposed to build a larger school in Walmer Road, near by ;
but the scheme, when nearly ripe, fell through on account, we
believe, of some difficulties raised by the owner of the land re-
garding rights of light and way. At this period Bentley was busy
in a less poverty-stricken corner of the metropolis, namely Ogle
Street, Langham Place, W., converting a large warehouse into
Catholic schools ; to be housed under its roof were the girls, boys.
0
Plate LXXXI. — Chuech of the Holy Rood, Watfoed : Left Half of Six-light ^^■INDO\v
IN South Teansept, illustrating the Life of S. John the Baptist.
5201
DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE 521
and infants of the elementary sehool and also a middle- elass day
school, in connection with the church of St. Charles Borromeo.
To St. Mary's Orphanage, Park House, Blackheath, Bentley
made certain additions in 1871, notably a large basement school-
room, with a refectory and dormitory above. It was proposed to
erect an iron church, but, in lieu, Bentley suggested and designed
a temporary church to be constructed in the grounds of brick and
timber at a cost of only £600. The plan consisted of nave,
aisles, and chancel ; the roof was supported on wooden pillars and
crowned by a tiny bell turret. Canon Todd wrote, a propos of
the success of this unpretentious little building : " Every one is
pleased with the plan of your temporary church — why cannot we
build similar churches in poor neighbourhoods ? "
In 1874 Bentley took instructions from Father CoUingridge, of
St. Edmund's College, Ware, for plans for a Catholic elementary
school at Puckeridge, near Buntingford, Herts. The drawings
show a single-storeyed gabled building, with two porches and a
tiled bell turret. It comprises a single large schoolroom, provided
with a platform at one end. The materials of this pretty little
school-house are red brick and tiles, and the cost was £520.
The schools form an important part of the group of buildings
associated with the church of the Holy Rood, Watford ; and are
picturesquely in harmony in style and material with the presby-
tery, while conforming to the stringent regulations of a modern
educational authority. They were built in 1890.
In connection with Corpus Christi Church, Brixton Hill, a
new elementary school building was designed and erected by
Bentley shortly before his death. These, we have been told, have
received high praise from the authorities, as being without excep-
tion the most beautiful schools in the London County Council area.
CHAPTER XXI
STAINED GLASS
Introductory — Two periods of Bentley's practice as a designer of stained glass — Process
of development in design from thirteenth-century models — Mr. N. H. J. Westlake's
collaboration in the first period — Mr. Brewer's appreciation of a typical window of
the second period — -First Period: Glass in London churches: (1) Christ Church,
Streatham ; (2) Our Lady's, Grove Road ; (3) St. Francis, Netting Hill ; (4) St.
Mary of the Angels, Bayswater ; (5) St. Mary's, Cadogan Street ; (6) Convent of
Sisters of Charity, Carlisle Place, S.W. — Glass in Provincial Churches : St. John the
Baptist, Leeds ; Catholic Church, Wath-upon-Dearne, Yorks ; (9) St. Mary's,
Osgathorpe ; (10) Parish Church, Pickliill, Yorks ; (11) All Hallows' Church, Haxt-
hill ; (12) St. John and St. Francis, Richmond, Yorks ; (13) St. Marie's, Sheffield ;
(14) Catholic Cemetery Chapel, Sheffield ; (15) St. Helen's, Treeton, Yorks ; (16)
Parish Church, Wensley ; (17) St. Catherine's, West Drayton; (18) St. Mary the
Virgin, CoUaton ; (19) Convent of Perpetual Adoration, Taunton ; (20) Parish
Church, Barrington ; (21) Parish Church, North Moreton ; (22) St. Peter's, Drayton,
Berks ; (23) Winterbourn Down, Bristol ; (24) St. James's, Langton-Budville,
Somerset ; (25) Parish Church, Chilton, near Newbury ; (26) Parish Church, East
Garston, Berks ; (27) St. Paul's, Addlestone ; (28) Battlesden Parish Church ; (29)
Various Domestic examples. Second Period: (1) St. Marys', Clapham ; (2) St.
Mary of the Angels, Bayswater ; (3) St. Botolph's, Aldgate ; (4) Corpus Cliristi.
Brixton; (5) St. James's, Spanish Place ; (6) St. Michael and All Angels', Blewbury ;
(7) St. Michael's, Shepton Beauchamp ; (8) Holy Rood, Watford ; (9) St. John's
Chapel, Beaumont; (10) St. Peter's, Doncaster ; (11) All Saints', Northallerton;
(12) Wills Memorial, Carlisle ; (13) St. Patrick's Cathedral, Ballarat, Australia.
Bentley's forty years' practice in the art of stained glass design
divides itself almost equally into two very distinctly differentiated
periods. During the first his work in this craft was executed in a
collaboration, more or less close, with Mr. N. H, J. Westlakc and
the firm of glass painters of which he is a member. In the second
(that is, after 1883 or thereabouts) Bentley adopted other
measures to ensure that the rendering of his designs should be
as expressive as might be possible of his own ideals of the
perfection of the glass painter's art. To this end, the cartoonist,
the glass cutter and the painter were persons without any tie of
622
STAINED GLASS 523
commercial interest, working directly for him and possibly indeed
unknown to each other. Thereby Bentley was able to exercise a
very autocratic control over the various processes and to train
those who worked for him in a way that would have been
impossible had they been in the employ of some firm, and there-
fore not individually responsible to himself.
For a brief space subsequently to 1883, we believe that the
late Mr. John Stacey drew some cartoons for him, Savelle and
Young being employed as glass painters. In 1887 Bentley
discovered a first-rate cartoonist in the person of Mr. George
Daniels, who thenceforward produced most if not all of his cartoons
for stained glass, opus sectile, and decorative painting ; he likewise
had the good fortune to find, about the same period, a glass
painter of exceptional ability, the late Mr. John Sears. Mr.
George Daniels prepared the cartoons from Bcntlcy's designs,
which at first were small coloured drawings, and finally, we believe,
became merely the roughest of pencil sketches, with marginal
notes of colour and ornament, quite intelligible to and sufficient
for one so familiar with the architect's methods. Bentley would
correct or alter the preliminary sketches, and finally choose the
glass with infinite care, exercising the closest supervision over the
processes of painting and staining.
The writer, on one occasion questioning Mr. N. H. J. Westlake
to discover how it came about that the early stained glass he
and Bentley produced in collaboration was based with such whole-
souled fidelity on primitive models, drew from him the following
characteristic expression of opinion, in which is conveyed the
truth that fashions change and with them even so individual an
architect as Bentley :
" Your question about our work at Streatham involves a lot
of answer to account for the very ' mosaic-y ' look of it. Your
father was with Glutton for a long time, and was ingrained with
early ideas when first I met him. I, on the contrary, was ' nuts '
on the Italian quattro centi as painters — see the first work we did
together, St. John and our Lady's Communion at St. Francis's
524 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
(p. 373). Your father put in the diapered background to give it
an earlier taste. The Httle history of change may be thus. I met
the late Theodore Phyffers at Burges's rooms one afternoon about
1860 or so, and in course of conversation a clever young person
at Glutton's was mentioned — enire nous, Burges did not like your
father and sniffed. Phyffers said, ' I will ask him to meet you at
my house.' This was done. Phyffers was doing the group of
St. Augustine for St. Augustine's College, Canterbury, from
Burges's sketch. Phyffers had been brought by Pugin from
Antwerp to do figures for the Houses of Parliament, and even his
style was a little too early for your father, who got him, however,
to do some of his earlier work : see the altar frontal at St. Mary's,
Chelsea. You will see how he was fascinated by the early ' rage.' '
After practising some years, he seemed to me to leave Cluttonism
and early French for Bodleyism, which at one time he greatly
admired, and he fell into a species of decorated work — e.g.
Kensal — St. Mary's, Chelsea — Hammersmith, etc., etc., and glass
likewise. . . . Then little by little his affection for the fifteenth
century grew, as it was growing all around us. For we see fashion
in art has supplanted a consistent and well-developed style."
In another letter Mr. Westlake wrote : " You are on very
delicate ground in '64 and on, for at that time work and art were
very bad, and your father nothing much more than a student of
glass. . . . We were young." Anyway, that they were both on
true and right lines as glass designer and painter is borne out by
an unintentionally naive little admission in a parish magazine
(Christ Church, Streatham) published in 1864. Eight stained glass
windows, painted by Messrs. O'Connor, had just been placed in
the aisles of this church by a family belonging to the congregation,
while the south gallery had received four windows from another
member, Mr. John Montefiore, wliich were carried out by Bentley
and Westlake. The vicar's appreciation is worded as follows (the
italics are ours) : '■ Both series of windows are splendid specimens
' Bentloy's friend Willement's production of thirteenth-century glass at that time
must doubtless be counted a factor in the former's predilection.
STAINED GLASS 525
of the art, though in different styles : — those of the Messrs.
O'Connor being more elaborately finished as pictures, while Mr.
Bentley's and Mr. Westlake's are more severe and transparent,
transmitting little, if any, less light than the common glass
windows which they have replaced,"
In most of their early commissions the work was allocated
thus : the sketches were Bentley's, the figure cartoons were pre-
pared by Westlake, and Bentley again was responsible for the
full-size drawings of the ornament. In a few of the examples
quoted later the commission was given to Westlake himself, who
invited Bentley's collaboration ; though in the majority, the reverse
was the case. Together they exhibited a stained glass window at
the Paris Exhibition of 1867 ; it gained a silver medal, ultimately
fated to be stolen from Mr. Westlake by burglars.
The end of their long collaboration came in the early 'eighties
(we believe about 1883), when a serious professional disagreement
resulted in the death of friendship and the unhappy termination
of all communication between the two men.
We have classified and described in this chapter under the general
headings " First Period, 1863-83 " and " Second Period, 1883-1902 '"
all the stained glass mentioned in Bentley's diaries and account
books of which it has been possible to secvu-e particulars ; prefacing
the account with the following description and appreciation of a
remarkable window of the artist's second period, which is so excellent
and so just an interpretation of his canons of design and technique
in this medium that one cannot do better than reproduce it in its
entirety. It was written in January 1889, by the late Mr. H. W..
Brewer, draughtsman and critic.
" A remarkably beautiful stained-glass window has just been
placed at the east end of the new chapel of St. Charles, attached
to the church of St. Mary of the Angels, Bayswater. The window
is divided by muUions into five lights, its head being filled by late
Curvilinear Decorated tracery. The upper portions of the five
lights are filled by figures representing St, Augustine of England,
St. Ambrose, St, Thomas of Canterbury, St. Gregory the Great^
n— 13
526 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
and in the centre light St. Charles. There are no canopies over
the figures, the space being filled with a foliated pattern forming
a background. Each figure, however, stands upon a lofty pedestal
adorned with minute canopied work and pinnacled buttresses.
The general effect of this window is very similar to the magnificent
fifteenth-century glass of York and Winchester Cathedrals. The
object of the designer has been rather to give an idea of subdued
and quiet brilliancy than to create an object which by crude
variations of colour should at once arrest the attention of the
beholder.
" Those who know Cologne Cathedral must have noticed the
difference which exists between the modern windows given by
the late King of Bavaria and those in the opposite aisle of the
nave, painted by Aldegrever in the sixteenth century. The
former, though no doubt excellent in drawing, yet, by their violent
contrasts of colour, dark background, and attempts to give an
effect of solidity and relief, call off the attention from the archi-
tectural lines of the building, and deprive them of the repose which
is so essential to all good architecture ; whereas the ancient
windows give an effect of subdued and quiet brilliancy that adds
to the harmony and solemnity of the great church. The old
windows do not ' scream out ' at the beholder for admiration, but
by the quietness of their beauty compel his attention, and perfectly
harmonise with the noble proportions and grand lines of their
architectural surroundings.
" There are two points in which most modern glass is defective,
the treatment, namely, of the white portions of the windows and
the ' leading.' Modern glass-painters take little care with
regard to the first of these important points, and generally suc-
ceed in getting a dull, opaque quality like ground glass ; and with
respect to the ' leading ' their whole object seems to be to conceal
the process as much as possible by carrying it through the darkest
portions of the drapery, and making it follow the outlines of the
figures. In the outline of St. Charles's Chapel, however, the white
glass is made, either by contrast or by some peculiar quality of
STAINED GLASS 527
the glass itself, to assume that excellent silvery hue which can
be observed in Aldegrever's window at Cologne, or in the beautiful
English work at Winchester. The lead, instead of being con-
cealed, takes its own lines independently of the drawing, and
being carried boldly across the lighter parts of the glass, adds
greatly to the brilliancy."
First Period
Stained glass executed by Bentley in conjunction with the glass-
painting firm of Lavers, Barraud & Westlake, in London
churches between 1863 and 1883.
(1) In Christ Church, Streatham, a Lombardesque structure by
Wilde dating from 1844, we find what is, we believe, Bentley's
earliest essay, in collaboration with Mr. Nat Westlake, in the art
of stained glass design, unless, perhaps, a window in Cranford
Church preceded it. The technique, in accordance with the
period and style of the church, is mosaic-like in treatment and
sparing in the employment of white glass, producing a rich jewel-
like effect. It is interesting to compare here the glass of 1863
with a window of the same series put in by Bentley over twenty
years later (1885). The stained glass in question fills all the
twenty-eight windows at the gallery level, namely thirteen in
each side wall, and two east windows, north and south of the apse.
Of the four erected on the south side in 1863 by Mr. John Monte-
fiore, the subjects are characters connected with the Presentation
in the Temple, viz. Joseph, Mary, Simeon holding the Infant
Christ, and Anna.
Subsequently, on the offer of further windows, the rector
was advised to draw up for future adherence a definite scheme of
subjects. The south gallery lights therefore were set apart for
fourteen single figures and characters from the New Testament,
with appropriate texts ; to the Old Testament the north gallery
was similarly allotted, while the two eastern windows were to be
528 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
treated with small subjects from the Life of Christ, illustrative of
the several seasons of the Church, arranged in the geometric panel
fashion of the thirteenth- century glass painters ; Christmas,
Epiphany, and Good Friday being represented in the north
window, Easter, Ascension Day, and Whitsuntide in the south.
It will be observed that there is divergence of treatment in
the glass on either side ; on the north, the backgrounds are white
or yellow to compensate for deficiency of sunlight, while the
details of canopies, borders, and bases are treated in a variety of
conventionally foliated designs. The New Testament characters
on the south side are contrasted with ruby and greyish-blue back-
grounds, the varied canopies, columns, and bases representing
architectural features of Byzantine or Lombardo-Gothic style.
The Joshua window, seventh on the north side, was painted in
1873 ; the Naomi window in 1876 ; the Joseph window, 1882 ;
the Hannah window, 1884 (Westlake had no part in these two
last, for which Stacey probably prepared the cartoons).
(2) Our Lady's Church, Grove Road, St. John's Wood. — For
the east window of three lancet lights, Bentley was invited to
design stained glass by his friend the architect of this church,
the late S. J. Nicholl, in 1868. The window is a memorial to
Canon O'Neal. Each light is occupied by two subjects, with
canopy work intervening ; in the upper half of the centre one,
which is higher and broader than those on either side, is repre-
sented the Crucifixion ; below is St. John the Baptist bearing a
banner and buckler with the device of the Lamb ; he is surrounded
in the borders by a series of oval medallions containing busts of
the twelve apostles, with Christ the Master similarly placed in a
quatrefoil at the top. In the side lights are depicted incidents
of the Passion, the Agony in the Garden, and the Crowning with
Thorns on the right ; the Scourging and the Carrying of the
Cross on the left.
(3) At the Church of St. Francis, Netting Hill, there is but
little glass by Bentley ; the two small baptistery single-light
windows were put in in 1873 ; the subjects are St. John the Bap-
STAINED GLASS 529
tist and St. Charles Borromco, that of St. Augustine was done a
year earlier.
(4) At St. Mary of the Angels, Bay swater, the history of experience
and aesthetic progress as pictured in the glass from 1871 to 1893 is
immensely interesting and instructive, but in accordance with the
division imposed in this chapter we mention here only those
painted in tJie first period, viz. (1) the typical thirteenth-century
work in the four lancet windows of the north aisle, treated each
with two subjects separated by geometric panels ; of these windows
two, dedicated to St. Joseph, represent four events in the saint's
life ; two are devoted to St. Stephen, Protomartyr, and all were
executed between 1871-5. The Lady Chapel windows, a pair of
two lights each, designed in 1874, show an amazingly sudden
advance to a grisaille-like effect by the use of white glass in pre-
ponderance, treated with silver staining. This may be considered
perhaps in the nature of an experimental attempt, for the painting
has, unfortunately, through some technical defect in great part
worn off. The subjects are figures under canopies, four Old
Testament types of the Blessed Virgin, Eve, Ruth, Judith, and
Esther, selected by Father Rawes, who insisted, " Whatever
you do, put a sufficiency of clothing on Eve, or the people will
always be scandalized when they look at the window." Bentley
composed the quarrel between Truth and Modesty by enveloping
Eve in the masses of her golden hair, and drawing the branches
of the apple trees across her limbs.
The two single-light windows in the Chapel of the Relics were
designed in 1875 ; they represent its two guardian saints, with
appropriate emblems, St. Mary Magdalene and St. Helen. That of
St. Anthony in the new south aisle dates from 1875 ; two more
windows for this aisle were designed in 1880, besides the orna-
mental work in the window of St. Thomas (1877). An account
of the late windows in this church (in the Holy Ghost and St.
Charles's Chapels) will be found in the latter part of this chapter.
(5) At. St. Mary's, Cadogan Street, built by Bentley in 1879,
were put in soon after its completion a three-light window with
530 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
tracery and subjects from the life of the saint, in St. Joseph's
Chapel, and the five exceedingly tall and narrow lights of the east
window which are treated in horizontal divisions, each with
three subjects representing events in the life of our Lord and
His Mother, separated by figures of scroll-bearing angels.
(6) The convent of the Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de
Paul, Carlisle Place, Westminster, possesses two windows for
which the designs were prepared by Bentley at the request of his
friend Mr. C. Hadfield in 1879.
Among stained glass windows in Provincial churches, mostly
Anglican, of which we have been able to discover details, the
following should be mentioned (it will be observed that several
are in the architect's native county of Yorkshire).
(7) Leeds (1868).— A window in the church of St. John the
Baptist, illustrating scenes in the life of the patron saint.
(8) Wath-upon-Dearne, Yorks (1872). — A pair of two-light
windows with traceried heads in the Catholic church, of which
Bentley's old friend Dean Locke was the priest. The design
consists of angels bearing scrolls and shields painted with the
instruments of the Passion.
(9) Osgathorpe, Leicestershire (1876). — A window in St. Mary's
Parish Church, given by Mr. Horace Walker in memory of his
parents. The order was given through the Hadfields, the glass
to be " as good as skill and money could make it." Medallion
portraits of Mr. Walker's father and mother appear above the
inscription at the base.
(10) Pickhill Church, near Thirsk (1879). — Glass for three-light
Early Decorated window and tracery in the north aisle, erected by
Mr. R. W. Twigge in memory of his father, who had been vicar there
for some thirty years or more. " The church," says Mr. Twigge,
" had then been recently restored by Street, and was in need of
stained glass. Bentley's design was much admired. In the central
light is St. Anne teacliing the B.V.M. to read, and in a compart-
ment below the figures is the coat of arms of Twigge impafing
Younghusband. The side lights contain respectively the figures
STAINED GLASS 531
of St. William of York and St. Oswald, King of Northumbria,
two patron saints of the family. St. Wilhem's alb is figured with
his coat-of-arms — lozengy silver and gules. An inscription runs
along the base — 'In memoriam Gulielimi Twigge, huius eeclesiae
vicarius cuius animam propicietur Deus. Amen.' By a curious
coincidence the face of St. William was said by the old people of
the village to be an almost exact likeness oi my father ! "
(11) Harthill. All Hallows' Church (1876).— It was, we believe,
through Mr. Hadfield that Bentley designed the glass for the
west window of this church, with three lights and tracery, the
subject, at the desire of the donor, being the Transfiguration.
(12) Richmond, Yorkshire. Church of St. John and St. Francis
(1876). — The commission to design this two-light window in the
aisle was given to Bentley through his friend T. J. Willson. Its
subjects, painted in grisaille, are the Salutation, the Visitation,
the Nativity, and the Presentation.
(13) Sheffield. St. Marie's Church (1880).— A two-light window,
representing the Annunciation, given by Mr. H. Barnascone
(1878). A three-light window with tracery in the baptistery
(under tower) and a single-light one of St. Joseph, in memory of
Charles and Constance Rimondi (1884).
(14) Sheffield. CathoHc Cemetery, Rivilin Glen (1878).— Three
lancet lights for the chapel, depicting the Resurrection ; with
our Lady and St. John. The commission was given through
Messrs. Hadfield.
(15) Treeton (1866-78). — The ancient parish church of this
village, situated in the Hallamshire district round Sheffield, under-
went a large reparation between 1869 and 1892, the architects
being the Hadfield firm. Bentley greatly loved and admired the
structure, and spent many hours there, taking a slight share in
the work in progress by designing the heraldic details for the
panels of the alabaster pulpit. Certain stained glass windows were
also designed by him in collaboration with Mr. Westlake, namely
the east window of the chancel (subject, the Resurrection) and the
three side windows of the chancel, each of two lights. The subjects
532 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
of these are : north, (1) Noh me Tangere and (2) St, Helen and
St. Alban ; south, the Annunciation. That over the west door of
the nave, a three-hght window, the subject being the Presentation,
was put up in 1878, or perhaps a httle later. The rest of the glass
in the church is by Westlake alone.
(16) Wensley (1883). — Far north in the Yorkshire dales, in the
parish church of Wensley, is a window erected by Mr. William
Rowntree in memory of his parents, brothers, and other kinsfolk
" who rest in the churchyard." The subject is the Good Shepherd.
(17) West Drayton (1875). St. Catherine's Church. — A two-light
window in the baptistery, " In memory of the Rev. John Joseph
Wren, D.D., who died March 5th, 1866. R.I.P. On whose
soul Jesu have mercy."
(18) Collaton (1868).— The church of St. Mary the Virgin
possesses, besides a fine reredos and a font by Bentley, elsewhere
described, the stained glass of the east window and the two south
windows of the chancel. The former, given by Mrs. Hogg in
memory of her husband, the Rev. J. R. Hogg, consists of three
lights, depicting the Crucifixion in the centre, the Carrying of the
Cross in the left, and St. John supporting the Holy Mother in
the right. The side windows were the gift of the brothers and
sisters of the same clergyman ; they represent the Resurrection
and Christ's Charge to St. Peter.
(19) Taunton (1873). — The convent chapel of the Nuns of
the Perpetual Adoration possesses three windows by Bentley : (a)
that over the high altar, consisting of three extremely narrow
lancets, treated in the early manner as to leading and arrangement
of subject ; the latter depicts the nine choirs of angels, surmounted
by the " Regina Angelorum " in the centre light, symbolic of
the perpetual adoration round the " Throne of the Lamb " ; (b)
a double-light in the south wall of the sanctuary with two subjects,
the Nativity and the Adoration of the Magi ; (c) a single- light
window on the same side mostly occupied by formal decorative
design is in memory of the foundress of the Order in England.
(20) Barrington (1870). — For this parish church Bentley, intro-
STAINED GLASS 533
duced by the Rev. A. Barff to the Rev. V. S. S. Coles of Shepton
Beauchamp, was invited to design a three-Hght east window and
tracery in memory of the Rev. James Stratton Coles, for twenty-
four years vicar of the church. The subject is the Crucifixion, and
angels appear in the tracery. A memorial inscription runs along
the base and the sacred monogram, crowned, forms the borders.
The angels in the side lights carry scrolls inscribed with Ecce
Agnus Dei and Qui tollis peccata Mundi, while those in the upper
lights have shields bearing some of the implements of the Passion.
(21) North Moreton (1870).— The late Prebendary Barff was
vicar of this parish from 1858 to 1872 ; Bentley got to know him
through his brother, Professor F. S. Barff, the eminent chemist,
who had become as interested in stained glass painting from the
chemical point of view as the cleric was from the ecclesiastical.
In consequence of this friendship, Bentley obtained quite a number
of commissions to design glass both for Berkshire churches and
others further afield, the earliest being for Mr. Barff's own
church at North Moreton. The first (1870), a fine three-light
window, with tracery, representing the Adoration of the Lamb by
a vast crowd of angels, saints, and prophets, is reminiscent in
treatment of the Van Eycks' famous altar-piece at Ghent. The
Lamb, with life-blood pouring from Its breast into a chalice,
stands upon a throne, attended by five angels ; one holds the
reed and crown of thorns ; another the scourges ; a third the spear
and sponge ; another the column, and the fifth the cross and
nails. Kneeling angels swing censers below. In front of them
stand the Blessed Virgin and St. John, looking upwards to the
Throne. In the lower part of this centre light are grouped the
four evangelists with their emblems. Prophets, doctors of the
church, martyrs, confessors, and angels are grouped tier on tier
in the side lights ; while in the tracery are depicted the age-long
emblems Alpha and Omega ; angels holding the sun and the moon ;
and ray-surrounded, the symbols I.H.S. and X.P.C. Mr. Barff
was delighted with the window — " it passes," he wrote, " my
most sanguine expectations, and they were fairly high."
534 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
In 1873 a two-light window in the side of the apse was put in
as a memorial to Mr. Barff's mother. The four subjects, under
canopies, represented in its two lancets are the appearances of our
Lord after His Resurrection.
(22) Drayton, Berks (1871-5), — There was at one time a wish
that Bentley should design painted glass for all the windows in
St. Peter's Church. He began with the east window in 1871.
The sketch shows three tall lancet lights suitably treated in the
early manner of stained glass design, each light being subdivided
into four oval or circular panels by means of the interlacing stems
of the vine. In the largest compartment of the centre light is
shown Christ upon the Cross, while beneath are two Old Testament
events prefiguring the Crucifixion, the Sacrifice of Isaac, and the
Serpent raised aloft by Moses in the Wilderness. In the side lights
are the Blessed Virgin and St. John as they stood at the foot of the
Cross ; below them are depicted four types of the Holy Sacrifice :
Abel carrying a lamb, Melchisedech with the bread and wine of
his bloodless sacrifice, Moses bearing the ark of the Covenant, and
Aaron with his blossoming rod. The topmost compartment in
each light is occupied by an angel holding a sacred emblem. The
colour scheme is characterized by the clear blue preponderating in
the background. Concerning the west window, the gift of Mrs.
Hyde, of Abingdon, erected in 1873, we are able to quote an interest-
ing account writted by Bentley at the time — probably for the
parish magazine. " Representations of the Last Judgment, whether
in sculpture, fresco, or glass, have a traditional place assigned to
them in Christian iconography, and are always to be seen on either
the west front of the chmrch, within the western porch, or on the
west wall within the church, to denote that all must pass the
judgment before entering their Father's dwelling, of which the
Church on earth is a type. When therefore was made the proposi-
tion of filling the west window of Drayton Church with painted
glass the subject under consideration immediately suggested itself
as being the most appropriate both in a symbolic and teaching
sense. The arrangement is that generally adopted throughout
STAINED GLASS 535
the West when treated on a limited scale as in the present
instance.
" In the centre light is the Second Person exposing His Sacred
Wounds, who presides as judge seated on a rainbow with the earth
for a footstool, crowned and robed in kingly vestments. Beneath
is the Angel of Judgment, St. Michael, holding the book and sword
wherewith to proclaim and execute judgment. Seated on the rain-
bow extended to the outer lights are the Blessed Virgin and St.
John the Baptist, accompanied by adoring angels illustrating the
words of St. Paul : ' Know ye not that the saints shall judge the
world' : and underneath the four Evangelists with neither scrip
nor pen to show that the message to which their Gospels bore
witness is at an end. In the tracery divisions are angels bearing
rayed discs enclosing the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the
Ending, surmounted by the sacred monogram crowned in the
spandrels at the apex. The style of the glass is that known as
Perpendicular, and corresponds in character with the old stone
window which dates from about a.d. 1480."
(23) Winterhourn Down, near Bristol (1876).— To All Saints'
Church in this parish a three-light window, with tracery, subject
the ResxuTcction, was given by Mr. W. Gale Coles, of Cleve Wood,
Downend, uncle to the Rev. V. S. S. Coles of Shepton Beauchamp,
hereinafter mentioned. The donor took exception to the sleeping
soldiers who in the original sketch occupy the foreground below
the Risen Lord and desired that they should be replaced by adoring
angels. Figures of saints occupy the side lights ; while on a
scroll in the centre appear the words : " I am the Resurrection
and the Life."
(24) Langjord-Budville, Somerset (1877).— For the Church of St.
James, Bentley designed stained glass to fill the tliree- light window
at the east end of the south side known as the Welchford aisle,
at the request of the late General John de Havilland, York Herald.
In the centre light is depicted Jesus Risen, while St. John the
Baptist occupies the left and the Blessed Virgin Mary the right
light. The arms of the de Havilland family are placed at the
536 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
bottom of the middle division, a similar position on either side
being occupied by the figure of the inventor (to whose memory
the window was erected by liis son) and of his wife. The inscrip-
tion runs as follows : " In memory of John de Havilland, Esq.,
Inventor of Radiating Prisons, borne at Gundenham Manor,
15 Dec. 1792, died 28 Mar. 1852. R.I.P. By his only son
John."
(25) Chilton, near Newbury (1879). — The stained glass in the
east window of the old parish church was erected by Mrs. Chaplin,
of Speen, to the memory of the Rev. Edward M. Chaplin. The
glass depicts, in the three lights, the three cardinal events in the
life of our Lord — His Nativity, His Crucifixion, and His Resurrection.
The scroll above the adoring angels in the first subject bears the
words " Unto us a child is born" ; that over the Risen Christ is
inscribed " I know that my Redeemer liveth " ; wliile in the
three divisions of the tracery on the scrolls combined with floral
treatment are the words of the Doxology, (1) Glory be to the
Father, (2) Glory be to the Son; (3) Glory be to the Holy
Ghost.
(26) East Garston, Berks (1880-83).— It appears that all the
stained glass in the parish church here was executed by Messrs.
Lavers & Westlake, Bentley co-operating, between the dates
given, in the preparation of the designs.
(27) Addlestone, Surrey (1881-2).— At St. Paul's, a " Waterloo "
church built in 1837, is a window on the north side, erected by
the late Mr. George Dent of Streatham Common. It consists of
two large and very tall untraceried lights, which contain four sub-
jects illustrating the parables of the Sower, the lost silver piece, the
lost sheep, and the miraculous draught of fishes, enclosed witWn
decorative borders.
(28) Batilesden (1879).— Through another member of the Coles
family, the Rev. E. Norman Coles, then rector of the parish of
Pottesgrove, the new tracery of the east window of old Battlesden
Church was put in by Bentley in 1876 ; for which he had also
prepared drawings of a handsome stone reredos, wliich unfor-
STAINED GLASS 537
tunately was never carried out. Three years later he designed
stained glass for a three-light window on the north side of the
church ; it pictures six events in our Lord's Passion : the Last
Supper, the Agony, the Betrayal, the Bearing of the Cross, the
Crucifixion, and the Entombment with angels at the Sepulchre.
A brass plate beneath bears an inscription stating that the window
was erected by a daughter of the Page-Turner family, the then
owners of the property.
Among Domestic Glass of the first period must be mentioned
the painted borders of the study windows in Coventry Patmore's
old house, Heron's Ghyll, enlarged and restored by Bentlcy at
that time (1867). Likewise that in the late Mr. W. R. Sutton's
house, " Sunnydene," at Sydenham, notably the large staircase
window, largely executed in grisaille in the style of the Renais-
sance. Heads of poets enclosed in scrolled medallions sm-mounted
with amorini supporting heavy laurel swags occupy the upper
lights, while the thick green wreath falls down to form the border
of both upper and lower lights. The quarries of the lower are
painted with conventional floral sprays. The effect of this
window, designed in 1869, is extremely harmonious and pleasing.
For the Manor Lodge, Sheffield, an old house the Hadfields were
restoring, armorial glass was designed by Bentley in 1873 ; its
detail consisted of badges and shields of arms with accompanying
wreaths and borders. The following year he designed the glass
for the dome of the Sheffield Gas Ofhees, which cost over £250 ;
and four pretty little casements formed of quarries painted alter-
nately with lilies and " Aves," which adorned the waiting-room
of his John Street office, and were presented by his widow to the
late Duke of Norfolk when the war and other unhappy circum-
stances necessitated the closing of this office after a tenancy of
close on half a century. Of greater importance is the stained
glass at Carlton Towers, Yorkshire, the seat of the Beaumont
barony ; its staircase windows are filled with an elaborate arrange-
ment of heraldry in quarries ; those in the armoury have heraldic
ornament ; in the gallery windows are two figures on painted
538 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
quarries ; while the glazing of certain doors and fanlights was
similarly treated.
Second Period. Ecclesiastical Glass
London. — (1) St. Mary^s, Clapham. Church of our Lady of
Victories. — The Lady Chapel glass, three windows of three lights,
representing nine Old Testament types of the Blessed Virgin, was
executed in 1885. It is distinguished by the sparing quantity of
coloured glass introduced and by the fine warm golden tone ob-
tained by a considerable use of silver stain. The grisaille work of
the borders and tracery is most beautiful and refined both in design
and treatment. The types represented are Eve, Sarah, Rebecca,
Rachel, Ruth, Deborah, Jael, Judith, and Esther, garbed in
fourteenth- century modes and with appropriate head-dresses.
The leading is lightened in effect by being gilt, a great improve-
ment since it is so near to the eye.
The glass in the chapel of St. Joseph (1894) is considerably
darker in treatment, containing a preponderance of fine greenish-
blue ; the subjects represented in the two windows are (1) the
Nativity : our Lady kneels adoring the Child laid upon the
ground ; St. Joseph stands within the stable close by. The
inscription in the lower part of the window asks for prayers for
Laurence Mahony, who died in 1880, and Anna Mahony (his
sister), who died in 1893. (2) Our Lord in St. Joseph's work-
shop. He kneels at His Mother's knee, while St. Joseph is oc-
cupied at the bench in the background. Beneath, and sur-
rounded by vine leaves, are the texts. Pater tuus et ego dolentes
quaerehamus te and Descendit cum eis et venit Nazareth. This window
is in memory of Osmond Lambert and Mary Josephine, his wife,
who died within five months of each other in 1893 and 1894.
The angel window of three lights (reduced in length on account of
the structural alterations) and tracery over the confessional in the
north aisle is a charming piece of grisaille work and staining,
dating from the same year (1894).
The four-light transept window depicting scenes from the
STAINED GLASS 539
priestly life of Blessed Clement Hofbauer may be considered one
of the least successful examples of Bentley's stained glass. This
doubtless is due, in great measure, to the inherently pictorial
nature of the subjects he was required to treat, which are better
suited perhaps to a mural decoration than to expression through
the medium of a transparent window. The incidents in the
saint's ministry occupying the upper half of each light are (1) his
Ordination, (2) his first Mass, (3) his preaching, and (4) liis office of
confessor. The lower portion of the lights is occupied by grisaille
foliation arranged in quatrefoils ; the only coloured glass here
introduced being the narrow border of green or blue and a jewel-
like ruby roundel at their points of meeting. The inscription at
the base runs : "In honour of Blessed Clement, Patron and
Model of Redemptorists. To the memory of the Fathers who
have laboured in this church."
(2) St. Mary of the Angels, Bayswater. — The history of Bentley's
glass in this church, already told up to 1870, was taken up again
in 1888 with the small and very beautiful east window in the
chapel of the Holy Ghost at the end of the old north aisle. The
following minute description is extracted from a highly apprecia-
tive account by Mr. Everard Green (Somerset Herald), published
at the time in the Tablet : " The window consists of three tre-
foil-headed lights, the centre one in height being above its fellows.
The tracery, somewhat flowing and yet partly geometrical, con-
sists of a cinquefoil between four trefoils. The subject chosen for
the glass is the coming of the Holy Ghost on the day of Pente-
cost. ... In the cinquefoil in the head of the window is a dove
(' covered with silver, and her feathers like pale gold ') on a ruby
five-rayed circle, the white and yellow-stained rays of which descend
into the centre light over the canopied episcopal throne of the
Church of Jerusalem, behind which hangs a gold dossal of baude-
kin or beau-brocade, and on which St. James, her first bishop,
is seated with hands clasped one over the other. In front of
the throne and to the right St. Peter stands lifting up his voice
in that first great sermon, preached on the day of Pentecost,
540 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
In his right hand he holds the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven,
one silver; the other gold. The rest of the tracery and the upper
part of the three lights are filled up with silvery-white vine leaves
on gold stems and small golden clusters of grapes, between silvery-
white borders Avherein shine sapphires and emeralds. The
upper chamber is paved with black and white squares, and an
elaborate hexagon- shaped open Gothic screen forms a Holy of
Holies within its centre. The screen in front of the Bishop's
Throne ends abruptly, and as sentinels of this entrance are figures
of Adam (resting in the cool of the evening, . . . his spade by
his side) and of Eve, busy with her distaff. Within the Holy of
Holies and in the midst of the twelve apostles sits our blissful
Lady . . . blue-robed, her silvery-white mantle powdered with
golden pomegranates. On her knees — ^the Sedes Sapientice — rests
the Holy Scriptures. The book of life is open . . . and with
her left hand she upholds it, whilst pointing to the sacred text
with her right ; and she alone, who bore the Word of God, pos-
sesses the written Word of God. Her eyes are bent on the open
page. Around her are the Twelve, men of various face and age
. , . showing by their hands the various ways each one feels
the coming of the Paraclete in the tongues of fire, which in the
kneeling figure of St. John . . . amounts to heavenly rapture.
The whole effect of this silvery window gives pleasure. . . . The
general effect is white and the low tones of blue and red, green
and yellow, brown and black, used here and there with great
discretion, only emphasize its general silvery whiteness and
clearness. The leading also deserves much attention, as it is on
the ancient lines, a feature, it is believed, peculiar, in modern glass^
to Mr. Bentley's work."
Since the magnificent five-light east window in the chapel of
St. Charles has been described in the introduction to this chapter,
further reference to it here would be superfluous. The two side
windows in this chapel, put up in 1893 (Bentley's last work in the
church), are similar in period and type ; each of the six lights
contains a full-length figure on a pedestal, the subjects, appro«
STAINED GLASS 541
priately habited, being English martyrs of the sixteenth century
whose decree of Beatification had then recently been passed ;
they are Bishop John Fisher, Sir Thomas More, John Hale (parish
priest of Islington) Cuthbert Maine, John Forrest (Franciscan
friar), and John Houghton (Carthusian monk). The donor
whom the congregation has to thank for these fine windows
was Katherine Keating Dick.
(3) St. Botolph's, Aldgate (1893).— In Chapter XXV, in record-
ing the restoration of this church by Bentley in 1888, mention
will be made of a stained glass window in the east wall of the
north aisle. In style it is a charming example of Renaissance
work, the subject being the Annunciation ; the donors were the
children of the parish, in memory of the Rev. A. H. Exham,
sometime curate of St. Botolph's, Aldgate.
(4) Coryus Christi Church, Brixton Hill.— This unfinished church,
begun by Bentley in 1886, contains some of the most splendid
examples of his stained glass, in the east windows of the chancel,
the east windows in the chapels of our Lady and St. Joseph, and
the side windows in the former chapel. (The transept glass is by
his son Osmond ; that in the organ gallery by another hand.) The
cost of the great east window was close on £700 ; while the east
windows of the chapel cost £300 each.
East windows of Chancel (1892). — The three great windows
consist of seven tall lights headed with slender geometric tracery ;
the theme rendered in magnificent fashion in their glowing painted
glass is the enthronement of our Lord in majesty. The centre
window of three lights is slightly taller than the side ones ; in
the upper part of the middle light our Lord, crowned and seated
upon a throne, beneath superb canopy work, stretches His hand
in blessing. Our Lady and St. John the Baptist stand on either
side below Him, with St. Michael armed with sword and shield
in the centre. Two kneeling angels with censers in the foreground
look up in adoration. In the centre part of this middle light is
shown the means whereby Christ through suffering and death
attained to His crown of glory. He hangs upon the Cross,
11—14
542 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
looking down in pity on His mother and St. John standing on
either side. St. Mary Magdalene, in abandonment of grief,
kneels at its foot, one hand upraised to clasp the sacred wood.
Angels, cloud-surrounded, kneel beneath its arms. In the upper
halves of the side lights are grouped the glorious company of
apostles, rejoicing and sharing in the glory of their King ; above
them hovers an angel with a scroll. In the centre parts of these
lights are shown groups of saints, St. Edmund, King and Martyr,
St. Augustine, first Archbishop of Canterbury, St. Alban, British
Protomartyr, on the left ; St. Thomas of Canterbury, St. Dominic,
bearing a lily, St. Veronica, and St. Francis of Assisi on the right.
The lower portions of all three lights are occupied by angels
carrying shields with the emblems of the Passion ; while at the
base of the centre one is placed the inscription.
The two-light windows on either side are subdivided to con-
tain twelve incidents of our Lord's Passion, Death, and Resur-
rection, from the day of dread of the Agony in the Garden to the
glorious moment when He charged St. Peter to feed His Lambs
and feed His sheep, and the saint, kneeling, receives from His
Master's hands the two symbolic keys of silver and gold.
The seven cinquefoil-headed lancets beneath the great window
in the east tribune of the chancel contain full-length figures of
saints, designed and put in in 1899. Represented are St. John
the Baptist, St. Peter, St. Paul, St. Stephen, St. Henry, Em-
peror, St. Evaristus, Pope, and St. Charles Borromeo.
Lady Chapel, — The east window (1896) consists of five lights,
the centre one reaching the apex of the window, the lateral ones
being much shorter and headed with geometric tracery. In
the centre portion of the middle light our Lady is seated, crowned
and holding the Holy Child, who stands upon her knee facing the
spectator. Two angels support an embroidered drapery behind
her head. Above in a smaller panel is shown our Lord in the act of
crowning His Mother and attended by angel choirs. In the lower
portion of this light, standing beneath a splendid triple arched
canopy, is seen Aaron with his miraculous rod. Similar figures from
STAINED GLASS 543
the Old Testament, carrying symbols of the Blessed Virgin, likewise
under canopies, occupy the lower parts of the side lights, namely,
Jacob with the ladder, Moses with the burning bush at his feet,
Joshua with sword and fleece, and David with his harp. The
upper halves of these lights contain small subjects: (1) our Lord
found in the Temple by His parents, (2) the Marriage Feast at
Cana, (3) the Burial of Christ, (4) the Day of Pentecost.
The borders of this rich and harmonious window are adorned with
painted leaf ornament, scrolling and twining upwards. The
tracery glass is light in colour and treatment, the main motives
being the monograms I.H.S. and M. in grisaille.
There are also three triple-light side windows in this chapel
filled with glass of equal magnificence, which was put in about
1892 and 1893. Nine incidents in the life of the Blessed Virgin
occupy the upper half of each light, while in the lower are
represented nine of her Old Testament prototypes from Eve
to Esther. The first window is the gift of Mr. Conway, the
second was given by Miss Reddin in memory of her family, and
the third by Miss King, all parishioners and great benefactors of
this church.
St. Joseph's Chapel. — Its east window, of similar form to that
in the Lady Chapel, was the gift of Mr. Kelly in 1899. A large
figure of St. Joseph carrying his blossoming staff occupies the
main part of the centre light ; angels support a rich drapery
behind him ; while yet higher two seraphim bend, adoring, over
the Ark of the Covenant. In the lower part of this light, Joseph,
the saint's patriarchal prototype, clad as an Egyptian and bearing
the wand of his office and a bag of gold, stands beneath a richly
fretted canopy. Other prototypes — -Abraham with the knife
and brasier of sacrifice, Jesse with his staff, Solomon crowned and
carrying sceptre and temple, and Josaphat, likewise in kingly
gear — occupy the other lights. Above them are depicted four
epochs in St. Joseph's history: (1) the Angel's Warning, (2)
the Adoration of the Shepherds, (3) Jesus sawing in the Car-
penter's Workshop, (4) the Deathbed of St. Joseph. The
544 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
foliage border of the centre light expands and crosses to form a
canopy over the head of the saint,
(5) St. James's, Spanish Place (1896).— The history of Bentley's
important contributions towards the beautifying of the interior of
this church is told in another chapter. As regards stained glass,
dating from 1896, that of the two northernmost clerestory windows
of the chancel is from his hand, and was the gift of the late Lord
Gerard. One lancet is occupied with a representation of Our Lord,
displaying His Sacred Heart, a white richly patterned curtain
being held behind Him by two angels. The border of the composi-
tion is composed of twining leafage. The second window is filled
with a group depicting the story of St. Mary Magdalene kneeling
in deepest humility to wash the Saviour's feet with her tears. There
is fine rich colour in both these windows. The third example of
Bentley's glass in this church is the single-light "Archangel"
window in the north transept, erected as a memorial to Cardinal
Manning. The lancet is subdivided into four panels ; in the top-
most is seen St. Michael, fully armed and slaying with his spear the
evil one, in the traditional guise of a dragon ; arranged in pairs in
the second, third, and fourth panels, white-robed, crowned and
bearing their distinctive emblems, are the six other archangels.
The background is a dull blue and the panels are separated by the
interlaced stems and fruit of the pomegranate. At the base appear
the Cardinal's shield of arms, surmounted by the scarlet hat,
crozier, and archi episcopal cross. The border consists of the letter
M crowned, alternating with the vine foliage and fruit, the chief
note of colour otherwise being struck in the blue background, in the
figure of St. Michael and in the blazoning of the shield. The Latin
inscription occupies the space beneath.
Among stained glass of the second period in provincial churches
the following may be noted :
(6) Blewhury Church, Berks (1889).— For the Church of St.
Michael and All Angels, Bentley designed the east window and also,
to the order of Canon Liddon, a single-fight window to the memory
of Mrs. Burgess, wife of the then vicar.
STAINED GLASS 545
(7) St. MichaeVs, Shepton Beauchamp, Somersetshire (1888-98).
— ^Between these dates Bentley designed three windows for the south
aisle of this church, at the request of his friend the rector, the Rev.
V. S. S. Coles. (The fourth window in the aisle, of earlier date,
was designed by the late Philip Westlake). Bentley's glass repre-
sents, says the present rector, the Rev. Arthur Lethbridge, " the
three Epiphanies of our Lord. . . . Mr. Bentley, when he designed
windows 1 and 2, had never seen the church, but before planning
the third he paid me a visit. I pleaded for a little more colovu" in
this window. I remember he said : ' I am going to have no colour
in any windows at Westminster,' to wliich I answered : ' But you
have just told me the walls will be colovu-ed marbles and mosaics ;
and look at our rough stone walls.' He said : ' Well, there is
something in that,' and his last window is much richer in colour
than the others. They are all beautiful windows." No. 1, a small
two-light window near the font, appropriately represents the
baptism of our Blessed Lord ; St. John, in the left-hand light, holds
a shell, while Christ occupies that on the right. In the quatrefoil
above the Holy Ghost descends in glory. An angel above our
Lord's head holds a scroll inscribed " Tliis is my beloved Son,"
while a second angel at the base displays a scroll with the memorial
inscription.
Nos. 2 and 3 are three-light windows. That executed in 1893
represents the Wedding Feast at Cana. The table extends
across the three lights, the bride and bridegroom are behind it
in the centre, and our Lord sits in front blessing the water vessels.
Our Lady stands in the right light ; the disciples and priests sit
on either side, A scroll at the top of centre light proclaims " He
manifested forth His Glory." In the centre light there is a small
lower panel, representing Christian marriage, the figures being in
costume of the fifteenth century. Angels right and left bear
scrolls inscribed "Hearken, O daughter, and consider" and "Good
luck have thou with thine honour."
The third window represents the Adoration of the Magi. In
the centre light sits our Lady holding the Divine Child ; a lamb
546 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
lies below ; on the left are St. Joseph and one of the kings ;
the other two are on the right. The lower central panel represents
the martyrdom of one of the Uganda Christians, a negro kneeling
before the block with negro executioners on either hand. (Their
martyrdom had taken place not long before.) The angels right
and left bear scrolls with " The Gentiles shall come to Thy light,"
and a memorial inscription.
(8) Church of the Holy Rood, Watford. — Here again, in a build-
ing wholly Bentley's own, one has the good fortune to find an
apotheosis of his stained glass in the rich and facile manner of
the fifteenth century; where but for his untimely death, every
window in the church would have received its storied glass from
his hand. Since fate willed otherwise the great west window was
carried out by ]\Iessrs. Burlison & Grylls after his death in 1903.
For Bentley's work, therefore, one must look to the east window
of the chancel, those in the eastern chapels dedicated to our Lady
and St. John, and the transept windows north and south, the two
windows of the south aisle, and the two in the chapel of the Holy
Ghost, to describe all of which with any degree of accuracy would
require at least a chapter besides the pen of an artist-poet. We
must humbly content ourselves with an indication of the main
theme illustrated in each.
East window of the Chancel (1899). — This splendid seven-
light window, rich and yet light in tone, is symbolic of the dedica-
tion of the church. The Holy Rood, of green wood, bursting with
fruitful shoots adorned with the emblems of the Passion, and
having at its roots streams of life-giving waters flowing to all
quarters of the world, represented by a field sown with flowers,
is the central object of the design. Angels devoutly kneeling on
cither side uphold the spear and the sponge, while right and left
is gathered the holy company of apostles. Their garments have
purposely been kept light, almost neutral in tone, so that the eye
shall be irresistibly drawn to the verdant cross. Glimpses of
deep blue sky lead the eye upward to the upper halves of the three
central lights, where in the centre our Lord, beneath a traceried
STAINED GLASS 547
canopy, is seated in majesty. Rays of light emanate from His
wounded hands and feet and side. He wears a cloak of crimson
over a white garment patterned in gold. On the right kneels His
mother, her hands clasped in prayer ; on the left St. Joseph,
with hands outstretched in supplication. Inscribed scrolls wind
above the head of each, while yet higher kneel angels making
music.
The two outer lights on either side depict angels and saints
arranged as follows : in the centre portion of those adjoining
the main subject stand, on the green field of this world, the four
national patron saints : St. George in body armour, and St.
David with his leek on the left ; St. Patrick and St. Andrew on
the right ; St. Stephen, carrying the stones of his martyrdom in
the folds of his ruby cloak appears behind them in the left outer-
most light, St. Paul with the sword of his execution on the opposite
side. The four lower spaces are occupied by kneeling angels
making melody ; while above the saints appear four other angels
bearing scrolls, suitably inscribed. The tracery is treated with
the symbols Alpha and Omega, the I.H.S. and golden pome-
granates and roses. There is no dedicatory inscription ; but the
following text runs across the base of the three centre lights.
" Judex crederis esse venturus Te ergo quaesimus tuis famulis sub
veni quos pretioso sanguini redemisti."
South Transept. — The noble six-light window contains repre-
sentations of events in the life of St. John the Precursor. Its
first, third, fourth, and sixth lights are somewhat lower in height
than the second and fifth, which run up through the tracery.
These four shorter divisions are occupied as to their lower halves
with foliated ornament in grisaille against a blue ground. In the
corresponding position the second and fifth lights show full-
length figures of the two great prophets of the Nativity, Isaias
with the raven, Jeremias bearing the saw. The upper portion
of all six lights is occupied with events in the saint's life: (1) the
Vision of Zachary, (2) the Visitation, (3) the Naming of John,
(4) John comes to Jesus, (5) he baptizes our Lord in the Jordan,
548 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
(6) his head is brought to Salome. The coloured illustration
(Plate LXXXI) represents the left half of this fine window.
North Transept (1893-4). — Another majestic window, it differs
in the arrangement of its lights from that in the south transept,
being cut by transoms into three storeys, having three lights in
each. The central light in the middle and upper storeys is con-
tinuous, however, and not divided by the transverse bar. The
mystic Tree of Jesse spreads across the three lowermost, bearing in
its branches demi-figures of the bearded Isaac, the kingly David
crowned, and Jechonias from whom Salathiel sprang. Towering
upwards it culminates in the pedestal whereon, beneath a high
traceried canopy, stands Joseph of the House of David. In the
middle lights right and left are pictured the two occasions on
which he received angelic warning in his dreams. The topmost
lateral lights complete the pedigree by showing the Holy Family
in the carpenter's shop at Nazareth and the Holy Child dis-
covered by His parents in the Temple.
Lady Chapel. — Its east window consists of three lights, centrally
an ogee with four cusps, between trefoil- headed lateral lights
beneath tracery of exceptional grace. The Blessed Virgin,
draped in a deep blue robe, is, of course, the central figure. She
sits enthroned with the Divine Child on her knee, a golden crown
held over her head by two white-robed cherubs. A scarlet-clad
angel kneels below with a scroll inscribed " Felix es sacra Virgo
Maria quia ex te Natus est sol justitiae Christus Dominus noster."
The border is formed of fleur-de-lys interspersed with " Aves "
on a golden scroll. The side lights, divided transversely
into two compartments, contain four small figures with the
familiar scriptural symbols (as in the Brixton window). The
inscription at the base asks prayers for Elizabeth Hanley, who
died on January 11th, 1890. The backgrounds are mostly blue,
the borders vine leaves in grisaille, with blue scrolls. Although
this window was carried out from Bentley's design, and in his
lifetime, there are certain differences in technique and a harshness
of colour that lead one to believe that the work might have been
STAINED GLASS 549
done by some glass painter other than the one trained and usually
employed by him — unless indeed this window (and the same
remark applies to that in St. John's Chapel opposite) has under-
gone subsequent alteration. One has, for example, no recollection
in any other stained glass by Bentley of pink -tinted glass being
employed for faces and hands, as it has been in the two
instances under review.
Chapel of St. John. — The arrangement of the east window is
the same as that of the Lady Chapel ; the subject depicted, the
Last Supper and the First Communion of St. John, spreads across
the three lights. Our Lord stands holding platter and cup, admin-
istering the Holy Sacrament to the beloved apostle kneeling before
him. The other apostles are ranged around the table. Angels
uphold a crimson drapery behind the central figures, the rest of
the background is blue, patterned to give a brocaded effect.
In the lower part of the window is shown the eagle of St. John,
carrying ink vessel and pen in its beak ; a scroll declares : " Ego
sum panis vivus qui coelo descendit." The basal inscription asks
prayers for the soul of Sophia Rivaz, who died on March 12th,
1892. There is no doubt that this window lacks something of
Bentley's accustomed vigour and refinement of handling ; the
close proximity of the glass in the side windows, which in
every line and tone proclaims Bentley's authorship and super-
vision, renders comparison easy, although it does not help one to
account for the difference.
In this pair of three-light windows in the south wall, that
nearest the altar depicts events in St. John the Evangelist's
mystical life ; the further one gives three in his daily life. The
lower third of every light is filled with foliation and scrollwork
in grisaille ; above, in the first window, are the apocalyptic
visions : (1) the woman trampling a scarlet dragon beneath her
feet, " Signum magnum appamt in coelo," inscribed below ; (2)
Christ with the sword issuing from His lips, the book and the
stars in His hands, and seven mystic candlesticks at His feet : " Ego
sum primus novissimus " ; (3) the angel commanding St. John
550 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
to write " Quod vides scribe libro." The donor's inscription
below reads : " Of your charity pray for the good estate of Joshua
Walker, MDCCCLXXXXI." In the second window the three
subjects are (1) our Lord with His disciples in the boat, St. John
stretching out his hand ; (2) St. John leading the Blessed Virgin
away from the Hill of Calvary — the treatment of this deeply
pathetic incident is unusual and very beautiful ; (3) St. John
in the cauldron of boiling oil. The inscription runs : " Of your
charity pray for the good estate of Susannah Walker,
MDCCCLXXXXI."
South Aisle. — The two four-light windows here are practically
wholly carried out in white glass, in order to facilitate, on account
of their situation, the free admission of light ; the sole coloured glass
introduced is that in the prophets' cloaks, and the effect produced
is an exquisitely mellow golden tone. Each light is occupied by a
prophet of the Old Testament, dignified figures upon high buttressed
pedestals against a background of delicate grisaille work. A
scroll round the base of the pedestal gives the name of its occu-
pant, Jacob, Zacharias, Isaias, Jeremias, Moses, David, Osee,
Malachias.
The Holy Ghost Chanel. — The three windows of the chantry of
the honoured founder in the north aisle are all filled with stained
glass. That the shrine is placed under angelic guardianship is
indicated by the treatment of its pair of triple lights, wherein six
full-length figures of archangels, white-robed, golden-haired, and
splendidly crowned, fill the upper part of each and carry their
appropriate enscrolled texts ; while beneath, a heavenly orchestra
of seated angels, with peacock-like wings, plays upon musical
instruments. In the four sexfoils of the head appear six-winged
seraphim, one red, one blue, one green and one gold. A tiny
two-light window to the left of the recess intended for the
founder's tomb is blazoned as to one half with his shield of arms,
while in the other angels support a medallion wherein is repre-
sented Holy Rood Church, his magnificent gift.
(9) St. John's Chapel, Beaumont School, Old Windsor. — In this
Plate LXXXII. — S. Patrick's C'athedkal, Ballaeat : West Window.
650]
Plate LXXXIII. — Design fob Silver Sanctuahy-lamp.
[551
STAINED GLASS 551
" Perpendicular " chapel erected by Bentley with the new school
buildings in 1886-7, there are three stained glass windows designed
by the architect, the gift of Mrs. W. Dalgleish-Bellasis. The five-
light east wndow of the chancel is a noble and harmonious produc-
tion, in whose central and tallest light is seen our Lord robed and
enthroned in majesty; above, angels uphold flowing garlands and
drapery behind Him, while beneath His feet stands St. Michael in
knightly equipment. Our Lady and St. Joseph in suppliant atti-
tudes appear in the adjoining light on the left, wliile on the right
are St. John the Baptist and St. Peter similarly represented. The
outer lights are occupied with four saints of the Order of Jesus, St.
Ignatius and St. Stanislaus (left), St. Francis Xavier and St. John
Berchmans (right). The topmost space in each division of the
window is filled with angels and the tracery is treated with
light and elegant grisaille work. In the side windows of the
sanctuary are depicted four events in Our Lord's Passion : the
Agony and the Kiss of Judas on the Epistle side ; the Ecce
Homo and the Coronation of our Lord with Thorns on the
Gospel side.
(10) St. Peter's, Doncaster. — In this small Catholic church, whose
connection with Bentley has elsewhere been mentioned in this
history, are three lancet windows in the apse, containing single
figures : St. Peter in the centre, St. Anne on the left, and St. Eliza-
beth on the right.
(11) Northallerton. — In the Church of All Saints in this town
there is in the south transept a lancet window with memorial
glass to the Metcalfes of Porch House, Northallerton. An angel
bears the Sacred Vernicle outspread across the upper part of the
window. From the base of the light spring the root and stem of
a rose tree growing upwards to the Sacred Face, against a deep
blue ground. The shield of arms of the IMetcalfe family con-
ceals its lower branches ; across the window somewhat above it
is a broad scroll with split ends, for the inscription. The border
is in leafy scroll-work. The date of the window is probably the
early 'nineties.
552 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
(12) Carlisle.— A memorial window^ erected in 1896 to George
and Betsy Wills and their daughters Elizabeth and Maria, depicts
the three Maries at the Holy Sepulchre ; they stand, bearing
vessels in their hands, before the empty tomb on the edge of
which an angel is seated, holding a scroll inscribed " He is not
here, but is risen."
Stained Glass in Churches Overseas. — There is but little to
chronicle under this head. Concerning a window mentioned in the
architect's diary for 1885 as having been designed for a Madame
Pennee at Montreal, we are without further information and
cannot say what was its destination, or indeed if ever it was exe-
cuted. The stained glass carried out for a cathedral in Aus-
tralia in 1888, that of St. Patrick at Ballarat, was for a chancel
window of five lights in memory of Miss Carpenter ; a three-light
window and tracery to our Lady, the gift of the Bishop, and a
similar window dedicated to the Blessed Sacrament. The Bishop
of Ballarat, the Very Rev. James Moore, was in England in 1888,
and a guest at the Redemptorist house in Clapham. Doubtless
he was struck with admiration of the Lady Chapel glass in St.
Mary's ; for he made Bentley's acquaintance, and desired him to
undertake the glazing of these windows in the cathedral of his See
which he hoped to consecrate a year or two later. The style of
the glass is that of the late fourteenth century, the predominating
colour in the Lady window being a rich blue, while in that of the
Blessed Sacrament there is a good deal of red, introduced mainly
as background colour.
Lady Window. — Centre light : Our Lady seated crowned and
robed in blue with the Holy Child upon her knee. Two little
angels hold a white green-embroidered drapery behind her head.
At her feet are two small kneeling angels with a scroll. At the
base, beneath a small canopy, is represented the Nativity, Mary,
Joseph, and the Child in the manger, with the ass and ox in the
background. The side lights, divided into three by canopy work
and headed with crocketed canopies, contain in the upper and
^ The writer cannot discover the whereabouts of this window.
STAINED GLASS 558
middle spaces four Old Testament figures bearing symbols of
the Blessed Virgin and textual scrolls — Jacob with the Ladder,
Moses with the Burning Bush, Gideon with the Fleece, and David
with the Ark. The lower panels contain, as in the centre, New
Testament events — the Annunciation on the left, the Presentation
on the right. The border of the central light is adorned with
jewel-work, that of the lateral ones with small crowned shields
connected with the tracery and jewel work. The six trefoils of
the head display on blue grounds emblems of the Blessed
Virgin, the rose and the lily and her monogram crowned, the
symbolic Closed Gate, Tower of Ivory, and Garden Enclosed,
The Window of the Blessed Sacrament. — Across the upper part
of its three trefoil-cusped lights, beneath an ornate canopy,
stretches the table of the Last Supper, behind which our Lord
stands with outspread arms ; the apostles occupy the side lights,
the eye being concentrated upon the central figure by force both
of colour and arrangement. The lower portion of each light is
occupied by a small subject, typical of the Holy Eucharist ;
centre Melchisedech, the priest, bringing Bread and Wine to
Abraham ; right, the angel bringing food to Eliseus asleep ; left,
the Feeding of the Multitude ; our Lord commands the gathering
up of the fragments left over.
The great chancel window (shipped to Australia in 1889)
measures 23 ft. high, and consists of five lights, the centre one a
trifle taller than the rest, headed with elaborate geometric tracery
(Plate LXXXII). The stained glass of fourteenth-century type
possesses a good deal of strong colour, the backgrounds being blue
throughout. In the upper half of the central light is represented the
Crucifixion, with St. Mary Magdalene at the foot of the Cross ; in the
upper halves of the other lights are figures of St. Joseph, our Lady,
St. John the Evangelist, and St. James, first Bishop of Jerusalem.
Kneeling angels with scrolls and emblems occupy the small spaces
above their heads. Within red medallions below are five half-
figures holding the Instruments of the Passion. Thorny branches
entwine to enclose the small subjects below these, five incidents of
554 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
the Passion : Christ before Pilate, tlie Scourging, the Crowning with
Thorns, the carrying of the Cross, and tlie preparation for the
Crucifixion. At the foot of each Hglit is another scroll-bearing
angel. The idea of the thorny crown is carried up throughout
in the border of each subject. In the five large sexfoils of the
tracery are subjects representing Old Testament types of the
great sacrifice of Calvary : (1) The vicarious sacrifice of Isaac by
Abraham : (2) Abel and Noah ; (3) Abraham and Melchisedech ;
(4) the Serpent upraised in the Desert ; (5) Moses striking the
Rock. A simple colour treatment is accorded to the glass in the
smaller divisions of the tracery. It appears that there was delay
in fixing this window as no competent person could be found, and
at length the Bishop was forced to send to Melbourne for a man.
Bentley also sent out the glazed tiles for paving the cathedral
and designed some brass gas standards.
CHAPTER XXII
METALWORK
Introductory — Brass lectern exhibited at Great Exliibition of 1862 — Bontley equally
at home with all metals — Ecclesiastical screens and grilles — Altar rails — Liturgical
lights and altar crosses — Church lighting — Tabernacles — Church plate — Domestic
metalwork, fire-grates and accessories ; chandeliers : presentation casket.
*'I HAVE seen the plumbers, sometimes in difficulties with com-
plicated portions of their work, easily put right by a request
from Mr. Bentley to bring him a piece of lead and a few tools,
when he very speedily illustrated to them how he required the
work to be done." It was precisely this facile grip and mastery
of materials (so impressive to Mr. MuUis, Clerk of the Works at
Westminster, that he was constrained to communicate his re-
collection of it to the writer) that made Bentley the supremely
successful designer of metalwork that he was. Through all his
numerous and varied productions in the craft, whether the work
were large or small, from a wrought iron screen to a jewelled
crucifix, there runs the same imprint of knowledge, power, and
facility. Another master craftsman,' who during a number of
years carried out many of his metalwork designs, has summed up
the secret of his success as follows : " He was very absolute, very
masterful, and those who worked for him recognised the fact,
and did as he wished. He wanted an effect, and was fond of
setting difficult tasks to obtain it, but the difficulties were never
set through ignorance. Craftsmen, to whose own imagination
or initiative nothing was left, felt that he thoroughly understood
what he required of them, that he never demanded the impossible,
and that the finished result was to be all the better for the diffi-
culties to be overcome. Although a very busy man, he never
' Mr. H. Longden.
555
556 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
seemed to be in a fuss. He was that uncommon combination —
a great artist and a first-rate practical man, and his individuahty
was paramount in all that he did."
Bentley's pleasure in designing for Ihe metalworker's craft
dates back to very early days, the first work of importance being
a brass lectern exhibited by the makers, Hart & Pearce, of Blooms-
bury, at the Great Exhibition of 1862, where it attracted more
than a little attention and brought some new friends to the
young artist. It is illustrated on page 557. Another design,
which appears to be an early one, is undated, and is in the style
of the fourteenth century. The base, a trefoil in plan, supported
on the backs of three couchant lions, carries a hexagonal traceried
and buttressed shaft. The three flying buttresses, which add
greatly to the elaborate effect of the design, are pierced with
traceried openings and crocketed ; their finials being demi-
figures of monks bearing scrolls. The hexagonal tower-like
shaft is surmounted by a battlemented cresting with pierced
diaper work. On the summit of the shaft an eagle bearing
the book-rest on its outspread wings stands upon a small sphere.
A pricket candlestick, on a curved branch, springs from, or is
attached, rather, to one of the buttresses. The whereabouts of
these interesting pieces of work, if indeed the latter was ever
executed, is unknown.
The architect appeared, as we have indicated, to be equally
at ease with all metals. In wrought iron were produced numerous
fine details for domestic purposes, handles, hasps, hinges and the
like ; but his largest and finest works were for ecclesiastical
service, and comprise grilles, screens, and altar rails. For
expression in brass and copper he designed numerous tabernacles,
lamps, altar candlesticks, gas and electric light pendants and
standards, processional and other crosses ; while as regards
domestic objects in brass and steel his attention was successfully
turned to the designing of beautiful grates, fenders, fire-dogs,
and chandeliers. Among objects in precious metals may be
enumerated several chalices, monstrances, pyxes, crucifixes.
Plate LXXXIV. — Tabernacle : Corpus Chkisti Church, Brixton Hill.
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LECTERN IN BRASS. DESIGNED BY J BENTLEV AKCH''
FOR IilESS>^HART 8fc SON
Uliuliited at the IntamalioiiaJ Exhibition
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Fio. 51. — Atr E^BLY Example of Mbtalwork Design (1862).
n— 15
558 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
hanging lamps, a pectoral cross, crozier, mayoral chain, casket,
etc., etc. After these brief preliminary observations, it is pro-
posed to record the details of some of the more important and
interesting examples of the various objects above mentioned.
Ecclesiastical Screens and Grilles. — There are several
examples of these in wrought iron at St. Mary of the Angels,
Bayswater, the earliest (1868) being the screen of twelfth-century
inspiration, composed of rather minute spiral scrolls, which
encloses the baptistery at the west end. Next in point of date
and style, and marking a decided progress in freedom of treat-
ment, are the pleasing grilles in the sanctuary arcades which, no
the south side, divide it from the Chapel of the Relics. These,
erected in 1875, consist of a series of slender vertical bars, both
plain and twisted, surmounted by a bold leaf-crested cornice.
About midway in the height of each screen is fixed a pair of
shields, displaying on a dull red ground the initials and devices
of the two patron saints of the chapel, St. Mary Magdalene and
St. Helen. Corresponding grilles were subsequently placed on the
north side of the sanctuary. Similar in type is the Lady Chapel
screen, in wrought iron gilt, with fleur-de-lys cresting, erected a
year later, to enclose it from the south aisle (Fig. 52).
The architect had made a great advance when he came to
design, in 1887, the exquisite gilt screen that enshrines his chapel
of our Lady of Perpetual Succour at St. Mary's, Clapham. It may
be seen in the photograph of that precious shrine (Plate LXII),
and deserves undoubtedly to rank among his most happy efforts
in this class. The four powerfully original and imposing grilles
in the sanctuary of this church, two on north and south, are also
of wrought iron, painted a sombre green that is almost black.
They were planned shortly before the architect's death, and
executed posthumously, one, indeed, being piously erected to his
memory by his widow. The broad cornice, with its banded, pierced
lettering, on each face, of texts relating to the Blessed Sacrament,
crowns a range of slender, closely placed bars, hexagonal in
section and twisted at intervals in their length, conveying an
METALWORK
559
impression of lightness combined with strength. Somewhat similar
in design are the gates enclosing the baptistery at the end of
the north transept.
Far in splendid fancy and sumptuous treatment above all his
i
Fig. 62. — St. Mary oj the Angels, Bayswateb : Lady Chapel Grille of
Wbought Ibon, Gilt (1876)
previous efforts and conveying absolute mastery of the craft are
Bentley's joyous and spirited productions in the church of the
B.oly Rood, Watford, in which the designer has clearly touched
the zenith of his power. At Holy Rood there are well-nigh all
560 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
the fitments a church can need, each designed for it specially
and exclusively — screens, communion rails, a tabernacle, electric
light pendants, and lesser objects such as the font cover chains
and door furniture. The screens, all gilt, comprise those to
enclose the sanctuary on north and south, those that separate the
eastern chapels of our Lady and St. John from the chancel aisle
or ambulatory, and those wholly enclosing the donor's chantry,
the chapel of the Holy Ghost in the north aisle. The treatment
throughout is extremely nervous and spirited, and has that
flame-like quality and the buoyancy and directness so characteristic
of Bentley's work in this period (the 'nineties) and onwards.
The Lady Chapel grille proclaiming from the richly pierced letter-
ing of its frieze : " Pulchra es amica mea, suavis et decora sicut
Jerusalem," is crowned with a high and bold cresting formed of
fleur-de-lys alternating with crowned monograms of the Blessed
Virgin. The grille to St. John's Chapel is similarly treated, the
cornice bearing a tall leaf-cresting interrupted by two symbolic
eagles. On the fine screen in the sanctuary arcade the frieze
lettering, appropriately in keeping with the church's dedication,
reproduces the cry of the penitent thief : "Domine memento mei
quam veneris in regnum tuum," and the divine reply: "Amen,
dico tibi, hodie mecum eris in paradiso."
Altar Rails. — Those for the chancel of St. Francis's Church,
Notting Hill, seem to have been the earliest Bentley designed.
They date from 1876, and consist of a number of panels containing
scrolled wrought-iron strapwork, and interspaced by the slender
uprights, which carry the moulded brass rail and bear, at intervals,
small circular plaques painted with the insti-uments of the Pas-
sion. In the illustration (Plate LXXXVI) are given two fine altar
rails executed in wrought iron gilt, with brass top rails. The
details of that in the chancel at Holy Rood, Watford, erected
in 1889, may be seen in the pliotograph of the east end (Plate
LVII), against the white background of the suspended communion
cloth. The motive of the Lady Chapel altar rails there is a fleur-
de-lys in repousse work ; while in the case of St. John's Chapel
Plate LXXXVI.- — Altar Kails : (A) Chuech of the Holy Rood, Waftord : Lady Chapel.
(B) Church of S. James's, Spanish Place: Communion Rail.
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METAL WORK 561
the rectangular space between the twisted uprights contains
a delicately repousse pomegranate placed diagonally at each
corner. The raihng which surrounds the font in the groined
baptistery at the north-west corner of the church consists of a
range of slender twisted rods, painted in blue and silver, and
surmounted with a light rail.
St. James's Church, Spanish Place, possesses a quantity of
extraordinarily fine metalwork of this period, chief in importance
being the singularly beautiful communion rails which are carried
uninterruptedly across the east end, from the side altar of the
Sacred Heart in the north transept to the altar of St. Michael
and the Holy Angels in the south ti'ansept. Designed and
executed in 1892-5, they present a double range of very slender
twisted uprights (the inner series being spaced about 3 in. from
the outer), carrying a moulded brass rail. The inner rods are
spaced to form rectangular panels, filled in with varying repousse
and pierced designs, while those on the outer, or nave side, which
are hexagonal in section and specially twisted at intervals through-
out their length, support a narrow frieze of extreme delicacy,
inscribed in pierced lettering with texts concerning the Holy
Eucharist. The repousse work in the panels of the inner railing
where it crosses the chancel represents vine leaves and grape
clusters ; in front of the side altars this is replaced by a species of
oak leaf design on curving stems (Plate LXXXVI, B). The wrought
iron work is richly gilded throughout. Rails of similar material and
elegance enclose the other altars designed by Bentley, dedicated
respectively to our Lady and to St. Joseph. The high altar
rails receive additional emphasis and dignity from the tall cande-
labra, or rather electric light standards, which rise from them at
either end.
The extremely refined Renaissance altar rail, illustrated on
p. 562, was made early in the 'eighties for the chapel of
St. Stanislaus' College, Beaumont.
The communion rail erected at St. Peter's, Doncaster, at the
close of 1883, is a simple wrought iron railing with a mahogany
562 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
top, plain and almost sombre, yet with
a quiet elegance all its own. The donors
were the Hon. Francis Howard, after-
wards second Baron Howard of Glossop,
and his wife.
For the Jesuit Church of the Sacred
Heart, Wimbledon, the high altar rails,
carried out in ormolu, polished iron
and brass at a cost of £220, were
designed by Bentley in the latter part
of 1898, at the request of the rector,
the Rev. Francis Grene. This priest,
when subsequently put in charge of
the Catholic church at Bristol, in-
vited the architect to plan a new pres-
bytery, but owing to another change
of Superiors, it unfortunately never got
beyond being on paper.
To St. John's, Hammersmith, a
church built by Butterfield, Bentley
added a morning chapel, and designed
a small and graceful wrought iron altar
rail to form part of its completion.
At St. Luke's, Chiddingstone Cause-
way, the sole Anglican church built
from Bentley's designs, the altar rail
is a replica of that at Holy Rood,
Watford.
Liturgical Lights. — Though a large
number of altar lamps and candlesticks
might be recorded to Bentley's credit,
it must suffice to mention a few of
the more noteworthy. The first sanctuary lamp he designed
seems to have been a rather large affair in brass for the
chapel of the Franciscan Convent, Portobello Road, in 1863 (now
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the property of the Dominicanesses, to whom the whole property
passed by purchase.) This was a comparatively heavy Gothic
production, widely differing from the exceedingly delicate flower-
like lamps, often wrought in silver, of which several were made
subsequently to 1889. Not the least beautiful is that in the
Lady Chapel at St. Mary's, Clapham, consisting of a hexagonal
vessel shaped like the calyx of a flower, the under-sides of
whose horizontally spreading petals are adorned with a design
of pomegranates in repousse. The base is cup-shaped, each of
its six sides being wrought in a pierced design of conventional
roses and leaves. The lamp is suspended by three twisted chains,
wherefrom project a trio of curved supports to carry the ring in
which the glass oil vessel is set. Lamps bearing a general re-
semblance to this form were made likewise for St. John's School,
Beaumont (1889), the new Franciscan Convent at Braintree,
Essex, and the church of the Good Shepherd at Radstock; that
in the last-named hangs before a statue of the Blessed Virgin.
Bentley was responsible also for a good many sets of altar
candlesticks, ranging from those of simple design produced for
the high altar of St. Francis's Church, Notting Hill, in 1864, to
the superb and sumptuous set in the style of the early Italian
Renaissance designed for the high altar of St. Stanislaus'
College, Beaumont. These last are 36 in. high, and wrought in
polished brass. They were the gift of General Guzman Blanco,
then President of Venezuela, whose son had been a pupil at the
school. Another but smaller set of six, made in 1883, are used on
the Lady Chapel altar in the same chapel : the base is moulded
and hexagonal in plan, the stem and knops are repousse, in an
imbricated scale pattern. There is a similar set in the crypt of
Westminster Cathedral. Among other interesting designs in this
connection may be noted the candlesticks designed for St. Paul's
Cathedral in 1874, and a very elegant set of four in another City
church, St. Giles's, Cripplegate, made at the request of the late
Prebendary Barff in 1888. With this last set was included an
altar cross.
564 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
Altar crosses are usually so closely allied to their set of accom-
panying lights that two or three others may be mentioned in
this place. They are widely differing specimens of Bentley's
work, the first in point of time being that made for St. Dunstan's
Chapel, in St. Paul's Cathedral, in 1873 ; it was the gift, we
understand, of members of the Cecil family and a few other sub-
scribers. The design is Renaissance, the material copper-gilt
enriched with repousse work on base and shaft. The arms of
the cross and the knop are set with plaques of bloodstone and with
crystals, while the crystal spheres which terminate the arms are
held in place by leaf ornaments in gilt metal.
The second is the elegant little silver crucifix made for the
Lady Chapel at St. Mary's, Clapham, in 1885, the design being
based on fifteenth- century modes. The silver is parcel-gilt as
regards the ornamental adjuncts, the cross is inlaid with tortoise-
shell, while the figure of our Lord is an excellent piece of minute
ivory carving, in keeping with the refinement of the silversmith's
work to which it is attached.
A third cross, of polished and engraved brass, the gift of
Mr. John Montefiore to Christ Church, Streatham, in 1890 or
thereabouts, is 3 ft, high and rises from a hexagonal moulded
base. The terminals are relieved with pierced work.
Among not a few other altar candlesticks wrought from
Bentley's designs, brief reference may be made to those at St.
Johri's {Catholic) Church, Brentford (1885), six candlesticks and
a cross for the high altar at Holy Rood, Watford (1893), and a
set of six for a side altar in St. Jameses, Spanish Place, of about
the same period.
Church Lighting. — Among the most interesting modern
examples of the architect's skill in this department of ecclesiastical
equipment may be reckoned the electric light pendants illustrated
(Plate LXXXVII), which were designed for Holy Rood, Watford in
1899. Made of bronze-gilt, they are in the highest degree original
and effective. Numerous gas standards and brackets were drawn
for English churches, in the earlier years of Bentley's practice ;
METALWORK 565
among the few objects sent abroad are the brass standards for the
sanctuary of St. Patrick's Cathedral, Ballarat, despatched about
the same time as the three stained glass windows painted for that
church in 1889.
Among electric fittings elsewhere mentioned, reference may
be made here again to the elegant standards rising from the
alter rails at St. James's, Spanish Place, the very beautiful pen-
dants at St. Botolph's, Bishopsgate, and those in the chapel at
St. John's, Beaumont, which attain the acme of simplicity and
grace possible in wrought ironwork. These last may be discerned
in the photograph of the interior of this chapel in Plate LXXVIII.
Tabernacles. — In the fashion of the architect's youth, his
early tabernacles usually formed, in material and structure, an
integral part of the altar to which they appertained, being
architectural in character and constructed generally of marble,
the metalwork being confined to the brazen door, enriched with
engraving, enamelling, and gems. The first of this type on record
in his diaries seems to be that made for the Redemptorist Church
at Bishop Eton, near Liverpool, in 1864, followed by one in the
same city for St. Oswald's Church, Old Swan ; one for the
private oratory at St. Mary's, Clapham, and another forming part
of the stone high altar at St. Peter and St. Edward's, Palace
Street, Westminster (1867).
In 1873 a more elaborate specimen of the sculptor's art was
in hand, in the alabaster Renaissance tabernacle placed on the
high altar of St. Stanislaus' College, Beaumont, which is noted
here on account of the beauty of the door, set with gems and
adorned with enamels and repousse. Six years later, at the
request of Mr. Charles Hadfield, Bentley designed and supervised
the execution of an enamelled door, pronounced to be a splendid
and most effective piece of work, for the existing alabaster and
verde antico tabernacle in Early Decorated style at the Catholic
Church, Grimsby.
Soon after this date, Bentley adopted the detached type of
tabernacle, constructed wholly of metal, generally cylindrical in
566 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
form. The first of this class, designed about 1885, was intended
for St. Mary's, Clapham; but the design, then for some reason
set aside, was utihzed a number of years later for Bentley's
own church of Corpus Christi, Brixton Hill. It is wrought in
copper gilt ; the four corners of the door are enriched with fine
cameos, while its central panel is occupied by a figure of Our
Lord displaying His Five Wounds. The cresting around the
domed top is composed of shields in blue enamel inscribed I.H.S.,
alternating with pierced ornament. This and the two other
tabernacles illustrated are splendid and characteristic examples
of his metalwork in this connection. That made for the private
chapel of Mr. C. J. Stonor at " Llanvair," Ascot, in 1889, is wrought
in polished brass, is circular in plan, and measures 31 in. in height.
Its door is richly repousse in a design of vine leaves and grapes
around a central panel, wherein is shown the Lamb of God carry-
ing the banner of His victory. Precious stones are lavishly
bestowed in the details of door and cornice (Plates LXXXIV
and LXXXV).
The last tabernacle, in process of completion when the architect
died in 1902, is on the high altar at St. Mary's, Clapham, the
gift of Miss K. Mahony in memory of her parents. This superb
design owes much of its beauty to the colouring, the wonderful
tones of beaten copper harmonizing with the rich blue of lapis
lazuli and the moonlight tints of mother-of-pearl, both lavishly
employed in its adornment. The outer moulding of the door is
composed wholly of lapis lazuli, in large convex sections united
by annulets of metal (Plate LXXXV).
The tabernacle at Holy Rood, Watford, worthy of the church
which enshrines it, and splendid alike in fancy and craftsman-
ship, is carried out in bronze parcel-gilt, partly burnished and
enriched with enamel and precious stones.
Church Plate. — Of Bentley's first chalice we have no details,
beyond the bare fact that it was designed for a Father NichoUs
in 1864. The next recorded is a silver-gilt chalice and paten
ordered by the Rev. William McAulii'fe, of St. Pancras Church,
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Lewes, in 1875, at a cost of £56 ; it was enriclicd witli engraved
and repousse work and set with six cameos. The silver-gilt
chalice made for Beaumont College in 1887 is noteworthy as
much by the name of its distinguished donor as by its extreme
beauty of design and execution. It was the gift of the late
Don Carlos, in remembrance of the first Communion of his son
Don Jaime, who received his education at this Eton of Catholic
schools. The broad foot of this cup is set with six pink and
white cameos, carved with heads of our Lord, our Lady, St.
Peter, and three saints of the Society of Jesus — St. Ignatius, St.
Stanislaus, and St. Aloysius ; on the five facets of the knop appear
the five letters of the name MARIA in white enamel. The lower
part of the bowl is elaborately chiselled and studded with tur-
quoises and opals.
The later chalice recorded relies chiefly on fine proportion
and subtlety of line for its dignified effect, applied ornament being,
with the exception of the crucifix engraved on the foot and the
cross and word JESUS on the knop, conspicuously absent. This
was a pattern several times copied. The original was made in
18-ct. gold in 1901 for the late Dr. Wilkinson, Bishop of Hexham
and Newcastle, a friend of Bentley's of some forty years' standing.
The late Monsignor Joseph Corbishly, of St. Cuthbert's School,
Ushaw, ordered the first replica in silver-gilt, and subsequently
two more were made by the silversmiths, Barkentin & Krall,
for St. Andrew's, Newcastle-on-Tyne, and St. Mary's, Stockton-
on-Tees, the foot in each case being of silver-gilt and the bowl
and paten of gold.
Bentley made only two or three designs for monstrances,
the first, on which he lavished infinite pains, being that in silver-
gilt, richly jewelled, presented by members of the congregation
to St. Francis's Church, Notting Hill, in 1865. A second was
designed for the Redemptorists at Bishop Eton in the same
year. He likewise designed several pyxes, of which no details are
discoverable. A very pretty and characteristic example of his
work is the silver-gilt reliquary designed for Ushaw in the 'nineties.
568 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
The shaft rises from a broad, six-pointed base, whose edges
are sHghtly concave in plan and whose surface is adorned with
engraved and shghtly repousse leaf ornament. Coloured jewels
enrich the metal bands at the lower and upper edges of the
glass cylinder wherein the relic is suspended. Its dome-like cover
is surmounted by a slender crocketed spirelet.
Among miscellaneous examples of the silversmith's craft may
be mentioned the pastoral staff and enamelled pectoral cross
made for the late Coadjutor Bishop of Hexham in 1893.
Domestic Metalwork. — Fire-dogs : Among an immense
mass of drawings made for the decoration and furnishing of
Carlton Towers, not the least interesting and beautiful are those
for certain sets of fire-dogs, to adorn the wide, open hearths.
Three examples in polished brass are here illustrated; the centre
one, it will be observed, derives its main ornament from the letter
B, encircled by a scroll inscribed with the motto of the Stapleton
family, " Mieux sera" (Plate LXXXIX).
Fire-grates. — Bentley likewise designed suitable fire-grates for
the eighteenth-century portion of Carlton Towers ; and during
the course of his practice prepared a number of drawings of grates
for his own buildings, such as St. Thomas's Seminary, St. John's
School, Beaumont, Mr. Mitchell Chapman's house, "Dun-
croft," Staines, etc., etc. Particularly refined and effective was
a basket grate in brass and steel with pierced end panels and
ornaments and turned work made to harmonize with the decora-
tion of the dining-room in the Hon. R. Strutt's house in Eccle-
ston Square (Fig. 46).
Fenders. — As regards these safeguards to the fireplace, we
are enabled to reproduce two photographs given by the courtesy
of Mr. Longden, the metalworker, of Berners Street, to whom
the architect made a present of the designs many years ago.
That with the flower-vase pattern, executed in brass, exhibits
Bentley's knowledge of the method whereby effective contrasts
may be achieved ; note the clever disposition of the solid masses
of the vases interspaced with delicate cutwork. The lower fender
METALWORK 569
with the pierced fluting is of steel and has elegant canted ends;
it successfully exemplifies Bentley 's way of adapting the old methods
of steelworking to modern requirements (Plate LXXXVIII).
Chandeliers. — It is probable that he made other designs for
lighting rooms by means of clustered hanging liglits, though the
only examples of which the writer is aware are the splendid
chandeliers which add dignity to the hall and the state rooms
at Carlton Towers (Plates LXVII and LXVIII).
Casket. — A small piece of silversmith's work as remarkable for
its refined elegance of form and workmanship as for the peculiar
interest attaching to its purpose is the casket made to contain an
address presented to the late Sir Stuart Knill, Bt., in 1893, by his
fellow Catholics, on the occasion of the termination of his office as
Lord Mayor of London. The special significance lay in the fact
that he was the first Catholic to occupy the high office of First
Magistrate of London since the century of the Reformation, The
address was, moreover, an expression of the respect and regard
entertained for him by his fellow Catholics and was signed by
the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster, the Duke of Norfolk,
and other subscribers (Plate XC).
The somewhat ecclesiastical form of the casket was determined
by the desire to embody in its design certain ancient silver figures
of saints (fourteenth century) given by one of the subscribers ;
they represent the Holy Rood, our Lady of the Annunciation,
St. Peter, St. Paul, St. Stephen, St. Lawrence, St. Dunstan, St.
Thomas of Canterbury, and St. Katharine, each appropriate to
their purpose by reason of their patronage of City churches or
gilds. Thus the two City churches within the precincts of the
Guildhall and the Mansion House respectively are dedicated the
one to St. Lawrence, the other to St. Stephen, while almost
opposite the Mansion House once stood a chapel of St. Thomas
of Canterbury. " From this St. Thomas's anciently was a solemn
Procession used by the new Mayor : who the afternoon of the
same day he was sworn at the Exchequer, met the Aldermen
here : whence they repaired together to St. Paul's, and there
570 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
prayed for the soul of Bishop WiUiam at his tomb, who was
Bishop of London in the time of WiUiam the Conqueror. Then
they went to the churchyard, to a place where St, Thomas of
Becket's parents lay : and there prayed for all faithful souls
departed, and then went back to St. Thomas's again and offered
each a peny. The image of St. Thomas a Becket, to which popish
Saint this Chapel was dedicated, stood over the gate. But in
the first year of Queen Elizabeth some persons threw it down
and broke it and set a writing on the church door reflecting on
them that set it there." •
St. Katharine's place in the group is explained by the fact that
the Tower of London was often styled St. Katharine's Tower,
and because of her famous hospital within the city, a foundation
now removed to Regent's Park. St. Peter was included among the
City saints because the church of St. Peter " upon Cornhill " stands
upon what is probably the most ancient site of a church in London ;
while St. Paul, as the patron of the City of London, is rightfully
there. The figure of St. Dunstan is introduced as being the
patron of the ancient gild of Goldsmiths, of which Sir Stuart Knill
was a member. The representations of the Annunciation and
the Holy Rood are designed to perpetuate the memory of two
gilds attached to the before-mentioned church of St. Lawrence
and founded in the reign of Edward III. One of them had for
its object a special devotion to the Incarnation. It was the duty
of the other " to set up a wax light before a certain Image of
the Crucifix, and all the Brethren and Sisters to come to the
Said Church on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, and to
be present at the Mass and offer a peny." *
The casket is wrought in silver, the statues and ornaments
being parcel-gilt. The marriage of T.R.H. the Duke and Duchess
of York in 1893 having been made an occasion to bestow a
baronetcy on Sir Stuart Knill, the emblems of the ducal House
of York have been fittingly introduced into the decorative detail
' TA« Antiquities of London, Printed by H. Tracey, on London Bridge, 1722.
=> Ibid.
Plate XC-
-Pbesentation Casket in Silver Paecel-oilt (a Gift to the late Sib
Stuart Knill, Bart., Lord Mayor of London, 1892-3).
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METAL WORK 571
of the casket. The heraldic shields are those of the recipient
and of the City of London. The oaken case which contains the
casket has this interest attached to it. The piece of oak of
which it is made was part of the roof over the City Guildhall
which was removed in 1864. The City Surveyor said of it that
" it was placed there by Sir Christopher Wren after the Great
Fire when the original roof was destroyed ; it may be that this
piece is from the original roof, as much of the old timber was
used by Wren."
CHAPTER XXIII
FURNITURE AND TEXTILES
Introductory — Favourite style and material — Chaira — Tables — Sideboards — Cabinets —
Bookcases — Organ and pianoforte cases — Bedroom furniture — Picture and mirror
frames— Hangings of velvet and wool — Wallpapers — Designs for embroidery and
ecclesiastical vestments.
It has been asserted, with good reason in justification, that
Bentley's favourite architectural style was that of the period
when, in England, the Gothic was just slipping into the Renaissance
and Mediaevalism preparing to yield place for the great
classical revival. If this contention can be supported better by
one department of his many-sided art than by another, it will
be, we think, by that of domestic furniture design.
It is hardly necessary to repeat the commonplace that English
furniture manufacttu-ed during the opening years of Bentley's
practice, i.e. the early and mid- Victorian epoch, had well-nigh
touched bedrock as regards bad detail, perverted form, and utter
tastelessness, though doubtless a certain honesty of purpose,
born of good joinery and cabinetwork, was a virtue to which it
might fairly lay claim. There had been, it is true, the Gothic
school of furniture design, a brief and eclectic attempt to equip
the Victorian house with chairs, tables, and sideboards modelled
on crude and cumbersome ecclesiastical types of the twelfth
and thirteenth centuries — an attempt necessarily foredoomed to
failure, for a " curly " dining-room chair of " solid mahogany "
was certainly more comfortable and possibly not more ungainly
than an angular Gothic seat in varnished oak or pitch pine !
Bentley was, it must be admitted, at the outset slightly
672
- FURNITURE AND TEXTILES 573
captured by this school of design : witness a chair (formerly in
his John Street office) designed in 1865. But the entanglement
was soon over and done with ; the progressive condition of his
taste, coupled with the fact that from 1869 onwards commissions
to design furniture for a dwelling in late Tudor style came thick
and fast, carried him rapidly forward to the style of the late
fifteenth century, a preference which, in ecclesiastical architecture,
he did not exhibit till some years later.
As experience strengthened his hand, we find him evolving,
on an individualistic plane, original furniture designs moulded
by this preference for Tudor and very early Renaissance detail.
They were absolutely original in the sense that Bentley never
was or could be a copyist : though necessarily he borrowed
naturally and reasonably from the experience of past ages. For
example, from the Italian craftsmanship of the late fifteenth
and the sixteenth century he learned the type of table illustrated
in Plate XCI and applied this form of central support equally
happily to small side-tables, heavy dining-tables, and with con-
spicuous success in the case of such an unpromising piece of
furniture as a grand piano (see Plate XCII). His chairs, one feels,
owed nothing in shape to Italian models, being rather fashioned
on Flemish types, square of seat and back, and often upholstered
in leather. For drawing-room and easy chairs and sofas he
preferred to adopt and improve on, by beautifying their lines,
the best of the Victorian shapes with which he was familiar.
His cabinets are perhaps more influenced by Italian designs of
the cinquecento than any other, though even so they have not
very much in common with the livery cupboards or state " dressers"
of the period. His use of painted ornament with black wood was,
however, quite Southern ; a cabinet of this type was made in
1872, and a similar idea is carried out in the cabinets and wains-
cotting of the Venetian drawing-room at Carlton Towers (1879).
And this brings us to a fact that has always more than a
little puzzled the writer when studying Bentley's furniture. It is
the extent, in certain ways, to which he rendered a possibly
11—16
574 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
unconscious obedience to fashion. Take for example the rage
for the new process of "ebonizing" wood that flourished in
the 'seventies. Knowing the architect's detestation of shams
and his enthusiasm for fine material skilfully wrought, one
might suppose that the natural grain of a beautifully marked
wood, such as oak or walnut, would appeal to him enormously,
and that he would have regarded as wholly indefensible a process
of staining and filling to imitate ebony. Of course, one is ready
to recognize that the working of a hard wood such as ebony is
costly ; and to admit that he had precedent, as regards effect,
in the Italian and Flemish cabinet-work of the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries.
Another instance of Bentley's governance by fashion is, we
think, the use of looking-glass to fill panels in sideboards, cabinets,
and brackets. At one period he frequently introduced this ;
and whatever may be said in defence of mirror panels inserted
in brackets intended for the display of porcelain, one feels con-
vinced that nothing but a prevailing fashion would have induced
him to use this expedient in the back of sideboards or behind a
cabinet shelf not raised much above the floor — and that, had
he designed such pieces after 1885, this feature would have been
conspicuous by its absence.
It is perhaps a trifle curious that he was so little influenced
by the great native schools of furniture design of the eighteenth
century ; we can recall but few instances in which he was
beholden to them; there is an example, as regards form, in a
design for a long case clock, made for Mr. T. C. Lewis in
1879. There was also some furniture (wardrobes, etc.) designed
for Carlton Towers to harmonize with Chippendale pieces. To
the Queen Anne period, certainly, he turned for inspiration in
the form of mirror frames, in 1889, or thereabouts (Plate XCIII) ;
apprehending how perfectly suited were their qualities of lightness
and grace to the surroundings required by a glass. He was
extraordinarily careful over the correct framing of pictures and
designed numerous frames for himself and his clients. The
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576 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
earlier frames for pictures and mirrors own, when gilt, a Florentine
ancestry ; when black, they are naturally of Flemish type. He
also designed a few painted frames ; some especially suited to
the reproductions of the Arundel Society. His own Arundel
triptychs were framed, at great cost, in ebony mouldings,
personally designed.
The writer is inclined to think that, had Bentley designed
any domestic furniture in the last ten years of his life, he might
have turned with pleasure, in spite of their Dutch ancestry, to
the simplicity of some of the English models of the reign of
Queen Anne and the first thirty years of the eighteenth century.
He liked antique furniture and bric-a-brac, both for its merits
and for reasons of sentiment, and had a passion for Oriental
china which he could rarely afford to gratify. Although he
had acquired a number of good pieces of furniture and some
china, he could never rightly be termed a collector ; which
may probably be attributed to the restrictions of circumstance
(circumstance in this case being in the shape of a large, young
family). He was wont to say that to avoid temptation it was
necessary that he should go about with empty purse, for " If
I see a piece of ' blue and white ' it is more than I can do
to pass it by ! "
Among the old pieces (of furniture) collected from time to
time may be mentioned, to show the range of his taste, a William
and Mary tall case clock, inlaid elaborately all over with mar-
quetry ; a number of good Hepplewhite and Shearer chairs ; a
few Chippendale chairs ; oak chests and a large gate-legged table
of the seventeenth century ; high-backed chairs of Charles II
date ; some Dutch marquetry side tables ; and card tables of the
late eighteenth century.
As regards the choice of material, we have noted how ebonized
mahogany was employed for a great deal of the furniture designed
in the 'seventies. Otherwise Bentley employed oak or walnut,
invariably giving preference to the former where strength and
durability were required. Carved frames were usually made of
FURNITURE AND TEXTILES 577
pine. He would never tolerate veneer in his earlier years, though
later, we are told by the late Mr. Knox, who worked for him in
this craft for twenty-five years, he would sometimes allow it.
Gilding and painted decoration may, as we have seen, both be
found in designs based on Italianate styles. On deal, which he
could never be persuaded to use, and pitch pine he heaped scorn
and detestation on account of their lack of durability and the
tendency to become shabby " in no time."
It will be recognized as wholly congruous with Bentley's prac-
tice that it should never have occurred to him to standardize
any of his drawings and found any sort of school, or attempt
to set a fashion in modern furniture design, as Morris did.
It is proposed to end this brief survey of Bentley's furniture
designs with a descriptive list of those pieces of which we have
notes :
Chairs. — (1) The earliest, already mentioned, dates from 1865,
and boasts a Gothic flavour, in the build of its chamfered
legs ; the stuffed back and seat, square and rather thick- set,
are covered in leather.
(2) A dining-room set of twelve small and three arm chairs
made in 1873 for Mr. Sutton of "Sunnydene," Sydenham. The
carving in each is varied ; the square seats and backs are
upholstered in leather ; the latter being set in a wooden frame
with carved top rails, in formal floral devices ; the front rail
of the seat is likewise carved. They are constructed of ebonized
wood, which in recent years has been coated with varnish.
(3) A rather similar set of six, upholstered with stamped velvet,
were made for the late Prebendary Barff in 1874. Their Flemish
character was very marked.
(4) A year later Bentley designed for himself a set of eight
dining-room chairs ; they were constructed of oak, kept light in
colour, the stuffed seats and backs being covered with pigskin.
The shape and general details of structure were similar to (2) and
(3), but in the carved device on the back top rail was introduced
his wife's name flower, the marguerite, growing in formal spreading
578 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
fashion from a vase. The favourite pomegranate appears in the
front rail of the seat.
(5) (1873) An armchair designed for Mr. Sutton was distin-
guished by turned legs and a row of little turned balusters
just below the seat frame in front. Its upholstered seat was
covered with velvet. The back details have more of a Renais-
sance flavour : a square centre panel, scrolled around the edges
and carved with pomegranates, has pomegranates and scrolls
surmounting the top bar, which is tongued into fluted uprights.
The arms, set back from the front, are supported on balustrading
similar to that below the seat.
(6) In a third type of chair seat and back are upholstered
with velvet and edged with narrow tied fringe, but the padding
is confined to the upper part of the back and the carved rail runs
across beneath it. Similar carved floral detail adorns the seat in
front. The turning of the legs is more graceful and classical than
in either of the foregoing chairs. This set was made in 1883 for
Mr. T. C. Lewis.
Completely upholstered easy chairs and sofas were made for
himself and for Mr. Lewis ; they were covered with stamped velvet,
executed from his own designs. The sofas have a stuffed head-
piece, and approximate more nearly to the simpler Empire shapes
than any other.
Tables. — (1873) The details of an occasional table made in
ebonized oak for Mr; W. R. Sutton are given here since they
afford a typically excellent illustration of the source whence
Bentley's inspiration in such matters derived. It is drawn to
2 in. scale, and forms part of the drawing-room furniture designed
for "Sunnydene" (Plate XCI).
Several " occasional " tables, of ebonized wood, not unlike
the last, were also made for Mr. Lewis.
Dining-Tables. — Bentley's own, designed in 1875, to go with
the chairs already described, is typical. It measures 7 ft. 6 in.
by 4 ft. 6 in., and has two leaves to be affixed when desired at
either end on runners. The legs are turned ; the centre bar
7.
O
m
Plate XC'lll. — Mikror Fk.vmb (7 ft. 0 in. x 3 ft. 8 in.) for the late iMit. HAitnis Heal:
Wood, Carved and Gilt.
[670
FURNITURE AND TEXTILES 579
carries a series of turned balusters united by arcading ; and the
end stretchers take a semicircular curve inwards to join the
centre bar. The under-framing of the table is moulded, and
the ends of the draw runners arc carved with leaf ornament.
The Sydenham dining-table is a good deal larger, measuring
24 ft. by 8 ft.
Oaken tables for dining-room and play-room use were designed
for St. John's College, Beaumont, in 1887 ; in shape they are
octagonal or rectangular with good solid tops and turned pillar
legs. The stretchers are arranged in X shape in the octagonal
tables ; in the others there are low end rails united to a central
longitudinal one.
Sideboards. — The architect's own sideboard was, we venture
to assert, the best he produced. It is of high dresser form
enriched with a wealth of refined carved ornament. The lower
portion consists of two deep cupboards, that on the left wholly
taken up with drawers, while the right-hand cupboard is arranged
with shelves in its upper part and a deep drawer below. The
doors are panelled and richly carved with the emblems of the
master and mistress of the household — the eagle in one panel,
the marguerite in the other. On the stile between their initials
J., M. are linked with tasselled cords, in a charming piece of
symbolism. The top portion of the sideboard has central and
lateral carved buttresses of slight projection, set back between
which, in its lower half, are shelves designed for the display of
Nankin plates. The upper and slightly projecting part of the
back is carved with two panels of fan ornament beneath a frieze
displaying boldly the motto " Be Merry and Wise." The cornice
is rather wide in projection to afford space for a row of Delft
jars and beakers.
Of Mr. Sutton's sideboard of plainer type, it will suffice to
say that it is built of oak and not ebonized as are the chairs that
go with it. The pot-board beneath the middle cupboards is an
attractive feature in a piece that reveals other Jacobean traits.
Its date is 1869.
580 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
Cabinets. — Grouped under this heading are decorative pieces
of several types ; there are standing and hanging cabinets with
shelves enclosed within glazed doors for the exhibition of ceramic
and other treasures ; combined escritoires and cabinets, having
cupboards below and shelves above ; and finally stands designed
for the special purpose of supporting antique cabinets. The
ebonized and painted cabinets in the Venetian drawing-room at
Carlton Towers (Plate LXIX) are specimens of the first sort ; in
similar style is the "Sunnydene" piece (1872), wliich is painted
with scenes and characters from the Midsummer Night's Dream.
The diagrammatic drawings on p, 575 show front and side eleva-
tions, and a section of a combined desk and cabinet, cunningly
contrived. The opening of the small upper lateral cupboards can
only be achieved when the desk is let down. Among hanging
cabinets may be mentioned a very beautiful pair with gilt framing
and glass panels, bombe to follow the shape, designed in 1881 for
the drawing-room at "Sunnydene." Another, made in 1874 for
Mr. John Whitaker, now of the Grange, Whetstone, was " a very
pretty one, with dainty columns and mouldings and a little sketch
of a figure for the panels," says the owner.
Bookcases. — Simple eighteenth-century fittings were designed
for the library at Carlton Towers in 1876, and a small oak bookcase
similar in detail to the other furniture there was made for the
morning-room at "Sunnydene" in 1877; while new bookcases
formed part of the study equipment of 4, Earl's Terrace, Ken-
sington, renovated and decorated in 1881 for Baron A. von Hiigel.
The beautiful carved walnut bookcase which formed part of the
back dining-room adornment at 70, Eccleston Square, executed
for the Hon. Richard Strutt in 1883, was the first work under-
taken by the carver, Mr. John Daymond, to Bentley's order.
The Renaissance design, which is enriched with floral swags,
harmonizes with the organ-case and chimney-piece put up at
the same time.
Organ-Cases and Pianos. — As regards the former, one can but,
when details are not forthcoming, enumerate those known to
FURNITURE AND TEXTILES 581
have been designed by Bentlcy for domestic use/ The first
(1864) was for Bishop F. R. Nixon, then just retired from the
diocese of Tasmania, of which he was the first occupant (1842-64).
This organ was for his house near York ; whether it still exists
one cannot say. For Fairlawn, near East Grinstead, the resi-
dence of Mr. Oswald Smith, the banker, a case was designed
to contain a Lewis organ in 1873. For that made for Mr.
H. Sydney Smith, of Woolton, Wingham, near Canterbury, in
1874, Bentley designed the panels, to be carved in mahogany
by Knox. The organ made in 1876 for " The Downage," Hendon,
the house of Mr. Webb, of the cutlery firm of Mappin & Webb,
was after his death taken to a London house and subsequently
again moved. Its present whereabouts is unknown, if indeed it
still exists in its old form. The organ for the People's Palace,
presented by Mr. Dyer Edwardes in 1888. was built by Lewis,
the case from Bentley's designs. Additions have since been
made to the latter by the architect of the building, who put up
two dummy towers.
As the best example of Bentley's method of dealing artistically
with so difficult a problem, is illustrated the fine grand pianoforte
case designed for "Sunnydene" in 1875. The wood is ebonized,
the panels carved in intricate and beautiful style ; noticeably fine
too are the curved side and the details of the carved and turned
stand. Bentley also designed several upright instruments, in all
cases ebonized and adorned with carved and fretted panels both
above and below the keyboard (Plate XCII).
Bedroom Furniture. — Six or eight mahogany wardrobes, of
classic Renaissance design, were made for the bedrooms at Carlton
Towers. Their cornices were modelled after a design by Grinling
Gibbons in St, Paul's Cathedral. A certain amount of the new
furniture made for Carlton Towers for Lord Beaumont was under
Chippendale influence and style, intended to harmonize with the
vast quantity of magnificent specimens of this period that the
1 Reference is made to church organs in Chapter XXIV, among other ecclesiastical
furniture.
582 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
house already contained. On the occasion of one of Bentley's
visits, while the work of decoration was in hand, he discovered to
his amazement several vans laden with modern furniture, sent on
Lord Beaumont's order, being unpacked. Summarily stopping
the process, he led his client away to inspect his recent treasure
trove : quantities of beautiful old furniture stowed away in lumber
rooms. When brought out and sent up to London to be restored,
we are told there were two truck-loads of magnificent Chippendale
The chairs, which were especially fine, had seats of immense width.
Some of the beds in the state rooms were made from Bentley's
designs, and we believe all of the hangings to beds and windows
Frames. — Very numerous were the designs for picture and
mirror frames. Cursorily to mention a few, there was the gilt
mirror at " Sunnydene " over the piano, partly visible in the photo-
graph (Plate XCII) ; four carved and gilt frames for large paint-
ings of the Four Seasons by the late W. Christian Symons in
the same house, besides six smaller frames for other pictures ; the
carved frames made for portraits in the picture gallery at Carlton ;
that for the portrait of St. Aloysius Gonzaga in the drawing-room
at Beaumont College (1890) ; an overmantel mirror, consisting
of three panels and a ledge for china, made for Mr. Whitaker at
the same time as some carved pine picture frames in 1884 ; a
fine gilt mirror frame for Mr. John Courage in 1895 — and besides
many more, the superb " Queen Anne " mirror made for the late
Mr. Harris Heal in 1889.
Textiles and Wallpapers. — Since it was as difficult in the
'seventies to obtain materials of good design as it was to buy
decent modern furniture, Bentley was constrained to design and
have manufactured at great cost any textiles he needed for
domestic purposes. Such were the superb cut velvets for wall
and window hangings at Carlton ; stamped Utrecht velvets for
upholstering furnitm-e ; and some woollen materials with delicate
blue or light red formal Renaissance patterns woven on white
grounds. Similar conventional patterns for wallpapers were sup-
plied in considerable variety to the " Muraline " firm, who
FURNITURE AND TEXTILES 583
produced fine oil-printed papers which were both durable and
washable.
Designs for Embroidery and Needle Work date from 1864, when
he began to make drawings for ecclesiastical vestments. St.
Francis's, Notting Hill, owned a banner, a tabernacle veil, three
benediction veils, a processional canopy, and two altar frontals,
red and purple ; the Redemptorists at Bishop Eton had some
altar frontals and veils; and the Franciscan nuns two banners,
designed at this early period.
A large processional banner, the subject Christ displaying His
five wounds, was made in 1873 for Christ Church, Clapham, for
the late Rev. Bradley Abbott. It is fashioned in applique of
silk and velvet, with embroidery. The last ecclesiastical apparel
of which we have found a note is the white and gold altar frontal
designed for Holy Rood, Watford, in 1890. For Mr. W. H.
Weldon (Norroy King-at-Arms) he had prepared a design for an
embroidered chair seat in 1888.
CHAPTER XXIV
ECCLESIASTICAL FURNITURE IN MARBLE, STONE, AND WOOD FROM
1870 SOME MURAL DECORATION — MONUMENTS AND MEMORIALS
Introductory — (1) Catholic Altars, Shrines, and Triptychs — In London, St. Charles,
Ogle Street — Poor Clares Convent, Cornwall Road — Oblates' Private Oratory, Bays-
water — St. Mary's, Horseferry Road — Cardinal Manning's private oratory — St.
John's, Brentford — St. James's, Spanish Place. (2) Anglican Altar and C/iancel
Painting — In London, St. Gabriel's, Warwick Square, and St. Luke's, W. Norwood.
(3) Catholic Altars, Shrines, and Triptychs — In the Provinces, St. Peter's, Don-
caster — St. John's, Old Cumnock — Redemptorist Church, Bishop Eton, Lanes. —
Private Oratory, Llanvair, Ascot — Limerick commissions unexecuted — St. Cuth-
bert's College, Ushaw — ^Holy Name, Manchester. (4) Fonts and Font Covers — In
London, at Christ Church, Streatham ; in the Provinces, at St. Mary's, Westerham,
and St. Peter's, Doncaster. (5) Pulpits — in the Provinces, at St. Mary's, Cholsey —
St. Anne's Cathedral, Leeds. (6) Miscellaneous Church Accessories — Reliquaries and
relic cupboard, Farm Street Church — Stations of the Cross in Church of the Sacred
Heart, Wimbledon. {!) Organ-Cases in London Churches: St. Peter's, Vauxhall —
St. Anne's, Brondesbury — All Saints', Old Kent Road — St. George's Presbyterian
Church, Croydon — St. John's, Wilton Road — St. Mary's, Newington — St. Paul's,
Onslow Square — St. John's, Hammersmith — St. Etheldreda's, Ely Place. (8) Organ-
Cases in Provincial Churches : St. Hilda's, S. Shields — St. Mary's Cathedral,
Newcastle-on-Tyne — St. Patrick's, North Street, Glasgow — St. Stephen's, Norwich —
St. Clement's, Leeds — St. John's Cathedral, Salford — St. Marie's, Sheffield — St. Mary
the Virgin, Saffron Walden. (9) Organ-Cases in Village Churches : Parish Church,
Little Bookham — Parish Church, Heme, Kent — St. Mary's, Westerham — All Saints',
Hordle, Hants — St. John the Baptist, Wonersh — Parish Church, Denton, Lines. —
Convent of Perpetual Adoration, Taunton. (10) Monuments and Memorials to :
Mother M. Elizabeth Lockhart — Mrs. Hartley — Rev. G. B. Yard — Professor and
Mrs. Barff — Cardinal Manning— Wilfred Watts-RusseU — Caroline Stacey — Mrs. J. A.
Whitaker — Mrs. Hutchins — Mrs. Peek — ^Lady Alice Gaisford — Ellis — Mrs. Caroline
Thorne— W. L. Butler.
Bentley's passion for fine craftsmanship obtained, time and
again, adequate outlet and opportunity in the designing of numer-
ous ecclesiastical accessories and furnishings in marble, stone,
wood, metal, and glass. The secret of the measure of his success
lay in great part in the combination of two vital factors, not the
634
ECCLESIASTICAL FURNITURE 585
least important of which was a wide knowledge, both instinctive
and acquired, of the capacities and limitations of materials. In
the second place Bentley was clever in the choice of those to
whom he entrusted the materialization of his ideals. We read,
in the diaries of early days, of pathetic struggles with uninspired
carvers and attempts to produce the divine afflatus by " palm-
oil " allied to much precept and supervision ; for instance on one
occasion: "Gave the carver 10*. on condition he pleased me
and did his best " — a generous gift, when one considers the narrow
margin of income at that period. And of course always there was
bound to be the struggle between ideals and their realization.
.But gradually Bentley gathered about him a few individuals
and firms willing to become the faithful exponents of his ideas.
Such, to speak only of workers in wood and stone, were Earp of
Lambeth, to whom was confided practically all the early architec-
tural sculpture for about twenty-three years ; John Erskine Knox,
the wood carver, whose studio at Kennington turned out quanti-
ties of furniture and decorative work, chiefly domestic (notably
that at Carlton Towers, Yorkshire), until late in the 'eighties ; John
Daymond, of Vauxhall, responsible for the production of some of
the most splendid of the architect's designs in marble, stone, and
wood from 1883 till the end of his life ; Henry McCarthy, the
sculptor, a faithful interpreter for over thirty years. That
Bentley abhorred the slipshod, and had no use for poor and in-
sincere craftsmanship, will have long since become abundantly
clear to the reader of these pages, and one can almost hear him
remarking forcefully to a young aspirant for work : " A bad carver
is fit neither for earth nor heaven ! "
Within the bounds of this chapter it has been endeavoured
therefore to collect notes on ecclesiastical furniture in the metro-
polis and the provinces not already included in Chapters XVI and
XVII, which are confined, it will be recalled, to churches and chapels
built wholly or in part by Bentley. The prodigality of thought
and supervision manifest in several of the works about to be
described would have well-nigh sufficed for the erection of an
586 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
entire building. To quote but one example among many, there
is that splendid and opulent waking dream, the altarpiece of the
Assumption in the morning chapel at St. James's Church,
Spanish Place, a welding of Bentley's mystic vision and pure
faith into this miracle of fancy and invention.
To provide a simple survey of the subject it is proposed to
take first the altars and shrines in London churches and chapels,
and next those in the provinces, in their respective chronological
sequence, subsequently dealing in turn, on the same plan, with
other items of ecclesiastical furniture.
Altars, Shrines, and Triptychs in London
The Church of St. Charles Borromeo, Ogle Street, Langham
Place, W., is a Gothic structure moulded on the Gallic style in
vogue when it was built by Messrs. Willson & Nichol in 1863.
The partners, it would appear, were not in any way displeased that
their friend Bentley should (in 1870) receive a commission from
Father Canty, the priest in charge of the mission, to prepare
designs for an important high altar and reredos ; it is certain that
had they disapproved, he would never have accepted it. He
thereupon sketched two suggestions, one of which was duly
accepted. The rejected design was differentiated not only by the
greater opulence of sculptured detail, but also by a reduction of
scale and the absence of much of the ornamental tilework to be
seen in the reredos erected ; and above all by the more definitely
insular character of the detail, which would perhaps have proved
less in harmony with its French environment.
The reredos, consisting of three stories and measuring 30 ft.
6 in. high in the centre and 23 ft. high at the wings, occupies, as
to the two lower stories, the entire width of the east wall of the
sanctuary, to which it is united. The lateral portions of the
ground stage, up to the level of the dossal and throne, are clothed
with tilework, a dado of plain green tiles being surmounted with
fine encaustic tiles patterned with birds and lions arranged face
ECCLESIASTICAL FURNITURE 587
to face in alternate pairs. The alabaster piscina is placed in the
central panel of tilework.
From the moulded alabaster string which crowns the lowest
stage, spring a trio of slender serpentine shafts, carrying two
cinquefoil-headed arches, which enclose, up to a third of their
height, the alabaster tracery of a pair of trefoil cusped arches.
The main arcading is backed, above these, by delicate diapered
decoration. A second string of moulded alabaster above the
arcading crosses the whole structure, the wings of which termin-
ate in a machicolated cornice.
The central portion is occupied, as to the lowest stage, by the
high altar, dossal, and throne. It consists in the middle stage of
a cinquefoil alabaster arcading, borne by green marble shafting,
and backed as to its lower third by tiles arranged in chevrons
in a manner somewhat more ornate than the similar wing treat-
ment. Full-length figures of saints painted on slate occupy the
upper portion of these spaces, with the exception of the central
one, wherein is depicted our Lady crowned and seated with
the Child on her knee. In the third and highest stage the
alabaster arcading is repeated, with variations of detail, a broad
central rectangular panel being devised to contain a painting
of the Crucifixion, flanked by four trefoil-headed ones, two on
either hand, likewise containing representations of saints. The
richly moulded frieze and cornice with fleur-de-lys brattishing
which crown this central portion of the structure are enriched
by gilding, which is employed elsewhere also with good effect,
notably in the throne and canopy and the figures of angels which
stand upon the terminal buttresses of the high altar. Its dossal,
composed of slabs of light green marble, up to the top of the
alabaster tabernacle is headed with a traceried arcading of the
latter marble, which is continuous from the throne to the outer
buttresses. Two tall and slender columns of Griotte marble
spring from the gradine to carry the crocketed canopy.
The tabernacle, carved in the spandrels of its arch with two
kneeling angels swinging censers, has lateral columns of green
588 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
marble, cinctured with alabaster annulets, and a brazen door
rich in engraving and enamel work. The central theme is Christ
seated in royal robes, with right hand upraised in blessing. The
altar, mainly constructed of Derbyshire marble, has an alabaster
footing and green marble columns to support the mensa. The
frontal, recessed on either hand, is brought forward in the centre,
where an oblong alabaster panel displays within a pair of sunk
quatrefoils two painted incidents in the life of the sainted Cardinal
St. Charles Borromeo.
This work attracted deserved attention in the early 'seventies ;
though some criticised the employment of polished alabaster.
" It contained," says Mr. Willson, " a set of well-studied and
beautiful paintings by Mr. N. H. J. Westlake, executed on slate.
The result of using polished alabaster, from which the accumula-
tion of our atmosphere could easily be removed, is scarcely success-
ful. As to the paintings so justly admired, an ignorant ' decorator '
has long ago, alas ! touched and spoilt them with his varnish."
Bentley completed the chancel in 1872 with tile flooring and
marble altar steps, and an alabaster communion rail of a fine
though somewhat heavy design. It consists of alternate solid
and pierced panels, devised as quatrefoils surrounded by tracery,
the sculptor being Henry McCarthy. The gates of wrought iron
gilt were made by Hart of Bloomsbury. The oaken seats of the
chancel and the aumbry door were carved by J. E. Knox. These
two men, McCarthy and Knox, valued and trusty workers for
Bentley as we have already seen, were discovered by him through the
workshops of Earp of Lambeth ; they were then young beginners.
Ever quick to recognize the intelligent spirit and sensitive hand
of the born craftsman, he was eager to encourage it with all the
work he had to give, so that both men rapidly became well-to-do
masters of their own workshops and studios. This, coupled
with the architect's insistent supervision and correction of models,
and the pains devoted to training his craftsmen, accounts for the
exceptional perfection of finish and the mediaeval vigour charac-
teristic of all Bentley's productions.
ECCLESIASTICAL FURNITURE 589
To return to the Ogle Street church after this brief digression,
this account may conclude by a mention of the new frontal
to the Lady altar in 1879 ; it is merely a simple alabaster slab,
powdered with incised fleur-de-lys around a central sunk and
moulded quatrefoil panel, wherein is sculptured in relief our
Lady's emblem, a vase of lilies. He further carried out the
painted decoration of the walls of sanctuary and nave, and made
some slight improvements to the existing font.
The Convent of Poor Clares Colettines in Cornwall Road,
Notting Hill, possesses in its chapel — or rather twin chapels — a
specimen of Bentley's work, designed in 1871. This is the taber-
nacle and canopied throne in the visitors' chapel, and the curiously
adapted tabernacle on the other side of the same wall, in the
nuns' chapel. Being an enclosed order, even the celebrant priest
is not allowed to stand on their side of the grille. The entire
scheme involved in Bentley's design was for a pair of marble
altars, placed back to back (divided by this intervening wall), and
provided with devices whereby the religious could follow the
movements of the celebrant's hands at Mass and participate in
exposition of the Blessed Sacrament.
The altars were to be built of white alabaster and Hopton
Wood stone, with serpentine shafts for the frontal and panels
of the same green marble inlet into the alabaster portion of the
reredos. Its cornice and the structure of the canopied throne were
to be carried out in Caen stone, while the altar frontal was to re-
ceive further enrichment by means of painted panels, the subjects
being the Annunciation in the outer chapel and figures of St. Francis
and St. Clare in the inner. For reasons of which the writer and
members of the present community are not cognizant, the idea
was in part abandoned, a portion only of Bentley's design being
carried to fulfilment. This embraced the tabernacle and canopied
throne, divorced from any form of reredos, and rising from a
wooden altar on the outer side of the grating ; the tabernacle
alone, flat with the wall above another wooden altar, being all
that was retained on the enclosure side.
11—17
590 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
The nuns' tabernacle, devised in alabaster and Griotte and
enclosed with iron doors of which the abbess keeps the key, is
unlocked at times of Exposition, and through a panel of glass
the religious are able to see the monstrance raised upon the throne
on the other side. The door of the actual tabernacle is gilt, and
enriched with engraving, enamel work, and precious stones ; the
figure of our Lord enthroned and crowned occupies its central
panel. Two flying angels support the throne canopy, a three-
storied crocketed hexagonal spirelet springing from a corona of
fieur-de-lys. The effect is good, but it must be admitted that it
would have gained infinitely had the altar and reredos in keeping
been carried out.
In 1870 Bentley designed an altar for the private oratory for
the house of the Oblates of St. Charles, Westmoreland Road,
Bayswater, a very simple Gothic structure of wood painted. In
the frontal is a recess to contain a recumbent figure of the dead
Christ. The tabernacle and a little stencilled decoration in the
roof of the oratory were executed at the same time.
For the Jesuit Church of St. Mary, Horseferry Road, Bentley
did a high altar throne between 1871 and 1872. This classical
building was pulled down after 1903, when superseded by the
opening of Westminster Cathedral, and the throne, together with
the various objects designed by Bentley for the church's furnish-
ing, such as a lamp and candle branches, flower stands, banners
and a decorated canopy, were taken away to be utilized in other
places.
The next altar to figure in our series was also for the West-
minster district. Cardinal Manning, after the purchase of the
site for the proposed memorial cathedral to his predecessor,
decided to take up his abode in its immediate neighbourhood,
and having acquined the large gloomy building in Francis Street
known as the " Guards' Institute," he moved from the old resid-
ence. No. 8, York Place, Baker Street, into the new and more
spacious quarters in 1873. Bentley was desired several months
earlier by the Cardinal to design an altar suitable for the private
ECCLESIASTICAL FURNITURE 591
chapel in the new abode, with the proviso that extreme simplicity
should be its keynote.
A Quaker-like sobriety was preserved, therefore, even in the
colour of the materials, the altar being in great part composed
of grey Derbyshire marble, with mensa and copings of Hopton
Wood.' Plainly jointed slabs of alabaster were to form the
recessed frontal, the sole touch of stronger colour being the two
serpentine shafts to carry the altar slab. The structure was
to include a super-altar and gradine of Hopton Wood, surmounted
by an alabaster reredos, " seme " with incised and gilt fleur-de-
lys. A very simply carved cornice of Caen stone, centrally bearing
a shield with I.H.S., formed the culminating feature. Apparently
the altar was partly made before the Cardinal moved, who being
in a state of uncertainty as to the requirements of the new chapel,
wrote to Bentley rather high-handedly as follows :
"8, York Place, W.
" March 6, 1873.
" My dear Mr. Bentley,
" When I received some time ago a sketch of the altar
as it might be changed, I returned it because I had only wished to
know what the cost might be to extend the length and breadth.
I was uncertain what my chapel would require or admit : and
also whether I should retain its present form with a reredos. I
have now decided not to do so, and only to use the materials of
the altar, adapting it to what I wish.
" I would therefore ask you to direct Mr. Cooke [the stone
mason] to send the altar in its present state to the house in West-
minster. It is in Francis Street, Vauxhall Road.
" Your reputation shall not suffer by any of my aberrations
of taste or proportion.
" Believe me, always,
" Faithfully yours,
" Henry E., Archbishop of Westminster."
1 It seems that certain of tlie materials prepared for the Poor Clares' altars (see p. 589)
■were, by the Cardinal's wish, utilized for his own altar.
592 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
Poor Bentley ! He had known how to suffer many things
from his Eminence's " aberrations" during the years the Hammer-
smith Diocesan Seminary was a-building.
The altar, finally adjusted much as the inch- scale drawing
shows it, and minus the reredos, was subsequently moved
to its present home in the private chapel of new Archbishop's
House, Westminster. Later in 1873 Bentley designed for it an
alabaster tabernacle — a wrought iron safe, lined with white
satin, its repousse copper-gilt door being enriched with stones
and enamelling.
The church of St. Johfi the Evangelist, Boston Park, Brent-
ford, a severe erection of yellow brick under a slated roof, almost
destitute of architectural features, was built in 1866.' The
mission being desperately poor (during the three years antecedent
to the above date it was unable to support a resident priest), its
church necessarily remained for nearly two decades innocent of
decoration, while the simplest types of ecclesiastical furniture
had to suffice. When the late Rev. J. W. Redman took charge
of the mission in 1879 he energetically set to work to procure
money for the embellishment of the church.
Later he consulted Bentley, who in 1883 built him a low
front enclosure wall, of brick with stone coping and iron gates.
The following year saw the production of a small but dignified
high altar, throne, and reredos, richly carved in oak, and intended
to be completed with polychrome decoration and gilding. The
style is that of the late fifteenth century. The frontal is divided
into traceried panels, three wide and two narrow, the arcading
enriched with multifoil cusping taking the flattened ogee form.
A continuous line of moulded quatrefoils adorns the super-altar,
while the end buttresses have leaf ornament in square paterae
and terminate in a twisted pedestal on which kneels an angel
bearing a shield. The reredos is a beautiful example of the carver's
art in its panels fretted a jour, surmounted with delicate brattish-
ing. These pierced panels, three on either side, divided by
' The name of the architect is unknown to us.
ECCLESIASTICAL FURNITURE 593
crockets, contain a leafwork design within quatrefoils. The central
portion of the reredos contains within an ogee opening a deep
recess intended to embrace the tabernacle — a purpose it does not
fulfil, since the present tabernacle, a square iron safe, is evidently
of a temporary nature, and simply stands on the altar in front of
the recess.
The throne tapers, in a graceful fashion, in three stages, to
its elegant apex ; the lower is flanked by traceried open buttresses
and a crested cornice, alike terminating in crockets. Next
rises an octagonal stage, with open arcading and machicolated
cornice mouldings above which shoots up the little fretted spire.
Attached to the terminal buttresses of the reredos are effective
wrought iron supports for curtains, having a candlestick at their
outer ends. The woodwork was allowed to remain in its natural
condition until recently, when the whole was clothed in paint
and gilding by the Art and Book Company, who also added
to the frontal the Medici Company's reproductions of Memlinck's
triptych of the Crucifixion at Louvain.
On the south wall near the sacristy door is a three-fold frame
enclosing a copy of the ancient Greek picture known as " Our
Lady of Perpetual Succour " ; this refined piece of work is enriched
as to the wings with a gilt tracery of fleur-de-lys on a background
of dark blue ; over the outer sides of the wings, painted in the same
tone, runs an interlaced design expressed in gold. The inscription
on the cornice of the picture frame is " Auxilium Christianorum,
ora pro nobis," surmounted by an elegant pomegranate brat-
tishing. A simpler frame of larger dimensions, also by Bentley,
will be found on the west wall of the church : it contains a
painted picture of the Sacred Heart. The inner mouldings form
a cusped ogee, beneath perpendicular tracery ; the architrave of
the frame is carved with alternate pineapples and scrolls. This
frame also possesses doors, which may, one imagines, be a later
addition.
It appears that Father Redman desired to make some additions
to the church on the north side, which Bentley in due course
594 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
designed, though it is obvious that they never materialized. But
at the west end his touch is very evident in the organ gallery and
the beautiful wooden screen beneath it which provides an ante-
chamber or species of narthex to the church. The lower portion,
opening by means of double doors on to the central aisle, is arcaded
and filled with leaded glazing ; above the cornice runs a panelled
frieze with the favoured pomegranate motive introduced into the
cusping of each flattened ogee tracery. A wooden balustrading
protects the organ gallery above, with wrought iron members
alternating with the wooden balusters ; but the metalwork gives
unmistakably the impression of being an addition by another
hand.
Of the five pairs of windows in the north aisle it seems that
to Bentley should be attributed the design for the stained glass
in one couple only, that nearest to the Lady altar at the east end.
The subjects depicted are St. John administering communion to
the Blessed Virgin and her Coronation. The inscription beneath
begs prayers for the good estate of N. H. J. Westlake, the glass
painter, and J. W. Redman, priest of the church.
In another place reference has been made to the six superb
high altar candlesticks. Regarding these, the clergy now in
charge of the mission tell of high and perhaps tempting offers
of purchase from dealers, who, it would seem, covet them in order
to break up the set and sell them in pairs at a handsome profit to
grace Anglican altars (p. 565).
Paramount among the splendid and sumptuous examples of
Gothic inspiration produced in the last decade of Bentley's life,
are those possessed by the church of St. James, Spanish Place,
which stands at the back of the building that houses the world-
famed Wallace Collection. Originally the chapel of the Spanish
Embassy in London, the present church was built between 1887
and 1890 to replace the small edifice with a history dating from
penal days, then pulled down. This structure, built in 1740, was
supported by the Spanish Government, not being thrown open for
congregational use till 1827.
ECCLESIASTICAL FURNITURE 595
The late Canon Barry — priest in charge of this missionary
district in 1887, when the ground lease of the old chapel expired —
was anxious that Bentley should receive the commission to build
the new church, a building to be adequate in size and magnificence
for the fashionable quarter which it served. The Canon's project
was thwarted, however, by Cardinal Manning's insistence that the
design should be made competitive, a decision to which he neces-
sarily was forced to bow. The award was won by Messrs. Goldie,
Child & Goldie, by whom the new church, a thirteenth-century
Gothic edifice with plain lancet windows, was completed and
opened in September 1890.
Apparently (the structure being finished and out of the archi-
tect's hand) the Canon saw no reason to refrain from enlisting
Bentley's services when it came to providing altars, metalwork,
and decoration for the furnishing of the new building. To him
accordingly he turned in the following year, opening an important
list of commissions with a requisition for an altar and canopy to
St. Joseph. In the following year some of the fine metalwork was
put in hand, notably communion rails and candelabra, to be
followed by the great altarpiece and Lady altar later described,
the small Lady altar, a canopied pedestal, an altar and reredos
dedicated to the Sacred Heart, a pulpit and sound board, sets
of altar candlesticks, and a design for the high altar. In 1899
the seven splendid opus sectile panels of the apse arcading and
the sanctuary grilles were put in hand, while, at the time of his
death, Bentley was engaged upon designs for a truly sumptuous
reredos and tabernacle and pendants for electric light.
Before discussing these objects in greater detail it should be
explained that owing to the absolute ban of those lately in authority
at St. James's Church, no illustrations of Bentley's work therein
may appear in this book. They utterly refuse to allow any
photographs to be taken, while with equal firmness asserting
their right to prohibit the publication of the existing photographs
and drawings, on the ground that these designs being made for
the sole benefit of St. James's Church, their uniqueness should be
596 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
jealously guarded and all opportunity for the copyist withheld.
It is with great regret, therefore, that we are unable to include
anything, even a reproduction of Bentley's design for the sumptuous
reredos which the church should and might have possessed.
It was upon this beautiful drawing that the architect was working
just prior to the seizure that terminated fatally. Since the full-
size details had not been accomplished, the design for this unique
and splendid object was rejected, on the ground that, in the
opinion of those in charge of the church, it would be impossible
for another hand to interpret it aright and carry it out correctly
from Bentley's inch-scale drawing.
The existing bronze reredos was made some years later from
the designs of the late Mr. Thomas Garner, to whom also are
due the high altar candlesticks (a reproduction of those in the
church of San Petronio, Bologna, made by Niccola da Crema of
Siena in 1361), the altar cross, the corona and suspended balda-
chino.
The altar itself, whose opus sectile frontal, painted by Sears
prior to the architect's death, was then in the safe keeping of the
clerk of the works at Westminster Cathedral, was however com-
pleted and erected by the Bentley firm, the marble work being
undertaken by Messrs. Farmer & Brindley. The shafts are in
verde antico, the mensa formed of an Italian " sport " marble of
yellowish tone chosen by Bentley, while the super-altars are
composed of an over-strongly marked yellow-toned pavonazzo
in place of the light cipollino hinted at in the drawing. The
general structure is carried out in statuary marble, which is used
for gradine, plinth, caps, bases, and tracery.
In the centre of the beautiful composition in opus sectile that
forms the altar frontal is depicted, against a dull blue background,
the Blessed Virgin enthroned, with the Divine Child upon her
knee, and attended by a concourse of saints. The standing
figures on her right are St. Peter, St. Mary Magdalen, St. Thomas
Aquinas, St. Edward, King and Confessor, the Venerable Bede,
and St. Francis of Assisi ; in the foreground kneel the Three
ECCLESIASTICAL FURNITURE 597
Shepherds and St. Stephen, Protomartyr. Represented standing
to the left of the central figure are St. George, St. Benedict, St.
James, St. Thomas of Canterbury, and St. John the Divine. The
kneeling saints are St. Agnes, the three Magi, and St. Joseph.
The colour being reserved and delicate is extremely harmonious,
while the grouping of the twenty-two figures and treatment of
their heads and draperies is masterly. Mother-of-pearl is intro-
duced into the nimbi in place of the conventional gold treatment.
The writer was informed by the late Canon Gildea that Bentley
announced his intention of utilizing this beautiful shell for the
main part of the background ; and that those who came after
him preferred not to attempt that which they felt only he could
have brought to a successful issue.
Bentley's reredos, throne, and tabernacle were designed to
be executed in bronze gilt, with enrichments of mother-of-pearl
and lapis lazuli. The leaf design bordering each panel was to
be carried out in pearl mosaic, to which the jewel-like bosses
and oblongs of lapis would provide effective contrast. The pencil
notes on the drawing remark that the foliage in each panel and
the monograms of the shields of the angels were to be varied.
Metal supports, masked by the gold-wrought curtain, carry the
cross-surmounted, diadem-like canopy of the throne, the whole
structure being specially designed to soar in harmony with, and
to strike a coherent note against, the acutely pointed arcading of
the apse. The height of the dossal is 4 ft. 2 in. ; of the terminal
columns measured from the floor level to the top of the angels'
haloes, 13 ft. 9 in. ; from floor to the summit of the cross the
height is 15^ ft. ; the breadth measured from buttress to buttress
being 14 ft.
The marble and opus sectile wall lining of the apse begun
in 1899, was completed some time after Canon Barry's ' death,
which took place in December 1900. Up to the springing of
the sevenfold arcading the mural decoration consists of painted
1 The floor brass to his memory in the north aisle of St. James's Cliurch was designed
by Thomas Garner.
598 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
opus sectile squares, bordered with pale tinted glazed tiles and
white marble beading, and having as base a deep unmoulded
verde antico skirting. These opus sectile tiles display the sacred
monogram in light red, white, and gold, the last very sparingly
used.
Noteworthy among the fine detail at this lower stage is the
treatment of piscina, aumbry, and sacristy doorway. The first,
constructed of second statuary marble, is remarkable for the
unusually beautiful line of its cinquefoil-headed arch and the
cunningly wrought triple curve (or trefoil form) of the recess. The
external triangular- headed moulding is emphasised by a ribbon of
sea-green tilework; while beneath the projecting lower edge runs
an exquisite band of sculptured vine leaves and grapes. Similar
leafage appears in the spandrels of the sacristy doorway, between
the deep trefoil-headed arch and the square hood mould.
The aumbry is similarly sculptured in white marble, but its
wooden door, elaborately carved, conveys by a certain crudity
of finish the impression that it cannot be Bentley's work.
The tympana of the seven arches embrace each a picture in
opus sectile, six of the subjects being illustrative symbolically of
the Holy Eucharist. Taking the series from left to right, the first,
a symbol of the Viaticum, pictures the prophet Elias, to whom the
angel brought the hearthcake, in the strength of which super-
natural food he walked for forty days. Next the Last Supper is
prefigured by a group of Jews eating the Pasch, standing girt
and with staves in their hands. The third panel treats of the
Vicarious Sacrifice, the scapegoat ram offered in Isaac's stead.
Behind the high altar the central arch tells the story of the Great
Day of Pentecost. In the fifth picture Melchisedech, prefiguring
the Divine Priesthood, brings forth bread and wine, because he
was a priest of the Most High God. Sacrifice again is the keynote
of the next panel, Noe's thank-offering after the subsidence of the
waters. The last arch on the right represents the spies sent out
by Joshua to view the Promised Land, returning laden with their
rich burden of the fruit of the vine.
ECCLESIASTICAL FURNITURE 599
The metal-gilt angels, bearing emblems of the Passion, affixed
to the wall above the arcading are subsequent additions by Mr.
Garner.
The large " morning " chapel on the south side of the chancel
contains a very sumptuous and important Lady altar, the gift of the
late Count Torre Diaz. The picture, enclosed within a wonderful
example of the carver's art, is a modern copy of Murillo's " As-
sumption," and suffers, in common with the surroimding detail,
from the darkness of the chapel, for rarely can it be seen properly
by daylight. An admirable electric light equipment has been
installed to remove this disability. The altar itself strikes a
keynote of simplicity, in effective contrast to the rich gilding and
detail of its dossal and altarpiece. The frontal, behind a slender
sevenfold arcading of that dull yellow marble known as Jaune
Lamartine, is composed of richly veined onyx cut from a block
specially procured by the donor. From Numidia was brought
the yellow and rose-veined marble used for base, mensa, and super-
altar. The shafts of the frontal arcading are delicately moulded,
an original arrangement of leafage crossing at the top to form
the tracery. Spain furnished the marble known as St. Sylvester
of which the gradine is built.
The material of dossal and reredos is wood, painted and gilt, the
latter carved with a freedom and fancy that might have proved
bewildering but for the coherence of the idea thus beautifully
expressed. The dossal is broken up into nine panels, headed with
tracery,, wherein, on a golden ground, are painted nine half-figures,
bearing, scroll-inscribed, the emblems whereby in the Old Testa-
ment the Holy Virgin Mother was prefigured and symbolized.
There we see Jacob with the Ladder, Moses carrying the Burning
Bush, Aaron the High Priest girt with the precious Breastplate
and carrying the Blossoming Rod ; Gideon comes next, bearing the
Miraculous Fleece ; then Royal David with the Ark before which
he danced in holy exultation, Isaiah with a spoon and the smoking
brazier of charcoal, Ezekiel holding a fortified gate, Daniel
bearing a mountain, and Zachariah a seven-branched candlestick.
600 WESTxMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
The altarpiece is in the form of a triptych of late Decorated
ancestry, the middle portion being occupied by the before-
mentioned picture of the Assumption. The mystical rose and the
lily of purity are the central motives of its decorative framing ;
the former being introduced, in a pierced panel carved with
flowers and leaves, at the base of the picture. The frame,
headed by two superposed ogival mouldings, the intervening
spaces filled with tracery, terminates in a crocketed canopy,
enriched with pierced lattice- work and brattishing ; two small
angels upholding the Blessed Virgin's monogram, rayed and
crowned, appear to hover delicately above these topmost details.
A symbolic vase of lily blooms is carved within the tympanum
of the arch.
The vine, fruit of the Holy Mother's cup of sorrow, twines and
branches in the wings of the triptych, a fine effect being obtained
by means of the great feature of this carving, namely its detached
deep blue background. The monotony of overmuch gilding
is avoided, and a splendid cadence of tone produced by the
use of silver leaf, overglazed with blue, to emphasize the grape
clusters, the clouds, and the feathered wings of the angels. Kneel-
ing angels, four on either side, making heavenly music, are sup-
ported on the twining vine stems, while beyond the lateral edges
of the frame float two larger scroll-bearing angels, extending the
harmony of blue and silver and gold. The chapel is enclosed by
altar rails, and possesses tall and splendid electric light standards,
all by Bentley.
At about the same period and in the same style he designed the
small Lady altar, set between a pier and the outer walling at the
east end of the south aisle, and backed with a light walling up to the
height of its reredos. It is surrounded by marble paving, raised
one step above the aisle floor level, and wholly circumscribed by
brass and gilt wrought iron communion rails. A fine grille
screens the altar on the Gospel side. Gradine and super-altar
are built of pale- toned cipoUino from the Rhone Valley, satis-
factorily contrasting with the warm rich grey of the Anglesey
ECCLESIASTICAL FURNITURE 601
plinth and the exquisite orange veins in the onyx frontal. The
three plain slabs which, divided and bordered by narrow strips
of pale green marble, compose this frontal were cut from the
same wonderful block of onyx already mentioned as the gift of
Count Torre Diaz. Smaller portions, jewel-like in their rich
beauty of figuring, fill the lowest panels of the reredos, which,
exquisitely carved and moulded in alabaster of a warm pinkish
tone, consists of five panels, that in the centre being carried
up above the rest to terminate in a traceried ogival canopy,
borne on clustered shafting, gilt as to caps and bases. The
central shaft is emphasized by colour, deep blue, and adorned
with a running ornament of golden leaves and roses. Parti-gilt
also is the open tracery of the canopy.
The five panels embrace opus sectile paintings of great charm
and the delicate detail befitting a little shrine so near to the eye of
the beholder. In the central space our Lady, crowned and robed
in blue, gold, and white, stands upon a starry globe, upholding
the Divine Infant. Two white-robed angels support a deep blue
" cloth of estate " behind her, while the remaining background is
coloured similarly, and powdered with golden arabesques. The
side panels present on a self-same ground four angelic demi-figures,
blue-winged, with golden diadems, bearing shields whereon on an
azure field are displayed the words, or, Ave — Maria — Gratia — Plena.
This dossal is surmounted by a cresting of fleur-de-lys terminated
at either end by a golden crown above a shield with the Blessed
Virgin's monogram in gold on a light blue ground. Many other
interesting and lovely touches of fancy have gone into the fashion-
ing of this perfect little shrine.^
The pedestal and canopy for an ancient statue of our Lady
(believed to be the oldest venerated since the Reformation) is
placed against the south-west pier of the sanctuary, and was
carved in 1894. Polished Hopton "Wood composes the slender
pedestal, which has moulded buttressing and a scroll carved with
^ It formed the central motive of a picture entitled " Le Mois de Marie," painted by
Mr. Chevallier Taylor and exliibited at the Royal Academy in 1906.
602 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
the words " Salve Regina " on its front face ; the upper part is
of wood gilt, the circular flat top of the canopy being outlined
with a delicate leaf brattishing. The backing, behind the image,
is decorated with a gold diaper on a dark blue ground.
Crossing to the north side of the church one finds against
the east wall of the transept an altar dedicated to the Sacred
Heart. Its prevailing colour is naturally red, a fine French
marble of this hue being employed for the mensa, while the
gradine is built of alternate horizontal courses of the red Langue-
doc marble and bufi' Hopton Wood. For the plinth and jambs of
the frontal second statuary is employed, the frontal itself being
executed in opus sectile, wherein are depicted three wing-covered
seraphim in tones of palest red upon an Indian-red background
sown with golden stars. Each angel bears a white scroll inscribed
with a golden text. The panel is narrowly bordered with lapis
and gold mosaic.
A dossal of fine opened-out Eubcean cipollino slabs, edged
with a line of black and gold tesserae, in a moulded Hopton Wood
frame leads the eye upwards to the altarpiece in its richly carved
and moulded frame. The central theme is the Sacred Heart,
whose noble dignified figure, painted in opus sectile, is entirely
free from the reproach of mawkish sentimentality frequently and
justly levelled at the usual representations of this subject. The
face is gravely sweet ; the red robes stand out effectively from
the white background, relieved with its golden diaper. Four
small subjects occupy the lateral spaces between the figure of
our Lord and the frame, two on either side, separated by a band
of mother-of-pearl inlay. In the two upper panels are, left, the
Nativity ; right, the Last Supper. The lower contain, left,
St. Peter's Denial ; right, the Doubt of St. Thomas.
The alabaster frame, treated with gold and colour,' is quite
' The frame generally has been ruined by a quantity of paint and gilding applied,
we believe, since Bentley's time. In efioot, one docs not perceive at first sight that it
is made of alabaster, the impression is of woodwork chuiisily designed and hence far
removed from Bentley's well-known way of handling that material.
ECCLESIASTICAL FURNITURE 603
elaborate in detail. The lateral shafts of onyx which spring
from the gradine to terminate in the clustered shafting of crocketed
finials are encircled at intervals with the divine monogram
crowned and gilt, its background behind the pierced work being
painted red. The tracery is mostly gilt, and the groundwork
treated with grisaille ornament on blue. The cornice consists
of seven red shields, painted with the Instruments of the Passion,
and interspaced with leaf cresting.
The altar candlesticks and cross, also designed by Bentley,
were the votive offering of Mrs. Harman, a convert whose recep-
tion into the Church took place at the old Sacred Heart altar of
this church.
Bentley's fifth altar here, that dedicated to St. Joseph,
appears in point of date to come first, having been commissioned
in 1891, Noteworthy is the lifesize alabaster statue of the saint,
placed on a corbelled pedestal above the reredos, beneath a
fretted wall canopy of Caen stone, rising almost to the point of
the arch. St. Joseph, carrying the Divine Child seated on his
left arm, and a tall lily branch as a staff in his other hand, radiates
a serene patriarchal benignity. The simple and broad disposition
of the drapery is likewise noteworthy.
The altar is constructed mainly of rich dark grey Anglesey
marble ; the frontal consists of an opus sectile panel, depicting
the Flight into Egypt, enframed in mouldings of a buff alpine
marble from the Jura. A curious mistake occurring in this picture
evidently escaped the eye of architect, cartoonist, and painter ;
for the ass on which our Lady is travelling walks, in defiance
of the laws of gravity, with both near legs raised from the ground
at the same time ! The mistake was not noticed till some time
after the erection of the altar. Two standing scroll-bearing
angels in opus sectile occupy the lateral traceried panels of the
frontal.
The super-altar, sculptured with a row of sunk leaf paterae,
is of the warm-hued Jaune Lamartine marble, while alabaster,
partially gilt, is the material of the richly traceried reredos, cul-
604 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
minating in a pierced leafy cornice, against whose lateral but-
tresses are sculptured upon the wall rose wreaths gilt and
silvered encircling the letters S. J. The six opus sectile angels
of the reredos shine against a deep blue ground sown with golden
stars. Their scrolls display the titles of St. Joseph — the Just
Man, the Faithful Servant, and so on. The alabaster statue,
within the recessed wall niche above the altar, has the robe
painted and gilt, while gold again is employed on portions of
the high and slender canopy. Scuptured as though emerging
from the mural masonry on either side of the niche are two angels,
kneeling on clouds, whose scrolls bear the invocation "In Hora
Mortis — Ora Pro Nobis." The shrine is completed by a marble
mosaic pavement and enclosing rails and side screen of gilt metal.
Bentley was commissioned to design a pulpit and sound-
board for Canon Barry in 1893 or 4, but the presentation by the
late Lady Sykes at that juncture of a large pulpit from a church
in Yorkshire naturally set his drawing aside. This pulpit re-
mained without a sound-board until Mr. J. A. Marshall, subse-
quently to Bentley's death, put up the handsome octagonal one
now in the church. The dove suspended from it was, we under-
stand, added by the late Mr. Garner.
Bentley also prepared designs for a fine tabernacle, and for
the electric lighting of the church, the execution of which was
prevented by his untimely death. Ultimately, some years later,
the old gas brackets were adapted for electric light. Since fuller
reference is made under other headings to the metalwork and
glass, it will suffice to mention here that two of the stained glass
windows on the north side of the chancel and one in the south
transept are from Bentley's designs, and executed under his own
supervision.
The tall and extremely elegant canopied shrine for the statue
of Virgin and Child, the original design for which is here illustrated,
was among the architect's later contributions to his church in
Cadogan Street. Base and table are of marble, while the wooden
canopy is richly carved and gilt (Plate XCIV).
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Plate XCIV. — S. Maky's, Cadoqan Street : Shrine of the Blessed Virgin.
(From Original drawing.)
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ECCLESIASTICAL FURNITURE 605
What is, we believe, the sole Anglican altar-table by Bcntley
in London is to be found at St. GabrieVs, Warwick Square, S.W,,
a Gothic church of which Mr. Cundy was the architect. The
original stone reredos of the chancel was removed to the Belcher
chapel (a memorial to the vicar of that name), and subsequently
a small new altar was added to it. The present wooden altar-
table in the chancel with its marble footpace is the one designed
by Bentley in 1890, and was the gift of the late Miss C. C. Williams.
An inscription in Gothic lettering at one end records the fact :
" To the Glory of God and the dear memory of Allena Williams
this Holy Table was placed in St. Gabriel's Church by Catherine
C. Williams, a.d. MDCCCXC."
This mahogany altar has a painted removable frontal in an
extremely refined and satisfying example of fourteenth- century
design. The tracery is wholly gilt. The seated figure of Christ
in the centre panel, crowned and displaying Wounded Hands,
is draped in a scarlet robe ; right and left are standing figures
of St. Gabriel and St. Michael with their usual emblems and
scrolls bearing respectively the words : " I am Gabriel that stand
in the presence " ; " The dragon shalt thou trample under foot."
In the narrow side panels are painted, likewise on gold back-
grounds, half- figures of angels, blue- winged and robed in white,
bearing the instruments of the Passion. The painting and gilding
have been well cared for, and are as fresh as though they had
emerged but yesterday from the artist's studio.
With the reredos and altarpiece and the opus sectile and
mosaic decorations of the chancel, Bentley had nothing to do.
They were all the work of Messrs. James Powell & Co., of White-
friars. The east window is by the late Mr. Kempe.
There is an example of mural decoration by Bentley at St.
Luke's, West Norwood, one among several large classical churches
erected in the southern districts of London after the Crimean
War. St. Luke's is imposing both in scale and situation. Bentley's
contribution to its interior adornment consists of the paintings
above the altar, on the east wall of the chancel, which on account
11—18
606 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
of their position and for want of a better place we include here.
Their setting is the mural arcading whereby the wall surface is
broken up. The paintings, in tempera, executed in 1885 (the
cartoons were prepared by the artist, the late W. Christian
Symons), were put up in memory of the late Mr. George Dent,
by his sisters. The subject depicted in the arch on the right of
the altar is the Temptation of our Lord ; that in the same space
on the left, Joshvia's interview with the "Captain of the Hosts
of the Lord." The effect obtained is delicate and harmonious;
indeed, so shadowy are the draperies that one fears the colours
must have suffered from the hand of time.
Each large arch being subdivided by a central shaft, to form
two panels, is suited to receive two life-sized figures. In the
Joshua subject, the youthful warrior, clad in mail from neck to
heel, listens with bowed head and right arm and hand upraised
and outstretched in a gesture of obedience, to the speech of the
angelic messenger, who, clothed in pale draperies, stands on a
grassy mount, and rests his outstretched right hand upon the hilt
of a sword of immense length. The folds of a great red banner,
supported by Joshua's left arm, serve to relieve the lines of his
figure from utter severity. At the foot of the two panels is painted
a white marble tablet with the dedicatory inscription :
TO THE GLORY OF GOD AND IN LOVING MEMORY
OF GEORGE DENT, LATE OF STREATHAM COMMON
WHO DIED 24 MARCH 1883, THIS MEMORIAL IS DEDICATED
BY HIS SISTERS M. P. AND E. B. D.
The subject of Christ's Temptation comprises the Divine
Figure and that of an angel — " I will give Mine angels charge
over Thee," Our Lord, a fair and dignified presentment, with
an expression of patient endurance, stands upon a slight eminence
on the left. His garb a red cloak over a white robe. The angel,
again a full-length figure hovering near the earth, has white
draperies also. The inscription at the base is repeated in selfsame
ECCLESIASTICAL FURNITURE 607
manner and wording. The background throughout is treated
with a diaper of buff on very hght red, so pale now as to be
nearly unnoticed. The semicircular tympana of the two arches
are likewise diapered, and each is painted with a seated angel,
with widespread wings and clouds beneath his feet, bearing an
inscribed tablet. The angel on the left, above Joshua, has blue
robes ; that on the right, is in white.
Altars, Shrines, and Triptychs in the Provinces
For St. Peter's Catholic Church in his native town, Bentley
designed, besides the tabernacle and altar frontal already enumer-
ated among the earliest works, several other matters. In 1875
he proceeded to enlarge the altar and to design a reredos for its
completion. The first plan contained an elaborately sculptured
and lofty stone canopy to the throne, but finding that the money
available was insufficient to pay for this, Bentley was forced to
omit it, and modify the design as it is in the now existing reredos,
a very pleasing structure, devised in alabaster and Caen stone,
to follow the curve of the apse. Extending from the chancel
floor to the string below the apse windows, a height of 16 ft,, it is
divided in the upper portion into seven panels, alternately plain
and traceried ; the stone terminal buttresses are delicately
croeketed and pinnacled, and the whole structure is capped by
a broad foliage-sculptured frieze, headed by a machicolated
cresting. The four tall rectangular panels contain full-length
figures, painted in opus sectile (possibly the earliest instance of
Bentley's use of this material), representing the four prophetic
types of sacrifice, Abel, Noah, Melchisedech, and Abraham.
The intervening traceried alabaster panels are adorned with
sculptured shields painted with the Instruments of the Passion.
Twenty years later the whole fabric was done up and re-
decorated ^ interiorly ; the painting of the Lady Chapel, more
precious and elaborate than the remainder, should be had in
1 We are informed that the church has recently undergone redecoration, Bentley's
designs receiving careful adherence.
608 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
remembrance as Bentley's gift, his offering as he put it, to the
Church in Doncaster. A font and communion rails, elsewhere
spoken of, had been given to the church in 1883,
So far as we have been able to ascertain, the sole examples
of Bentley's genius north of the Border are an altar, reredos,
and screens in St. John's Church, Old Cumnock,^ a frame for a
painting of our Lady by N. H. J. Westlake, in the same church, and
a small and unimportant organ case in a Glasgow church.
The donor in the case of the Cumnock altar, etc., was the late
Marquess of Bute, with whom Bentley went to stay at Dumfries
House in January 1883, to inspect the church and take instruc-
tions for a number of furnishings and improvements. The
designs ultimately made for pulpit, font, stalls, screen, Paschal
candlestick, organ-case, and baptistery never materialized, a keen
disappointment in view of the time and trouble the architect,
according to his diary, had freely lavished upon them, especially
as regards the overcoming of certain structural difficulties.
The above-mentioned altar, dedicated to St. Andrew, was,
however, carried out under the architect's supervision. It occu-
pies a position near the pulpit on the north side of St. John's
Church, and is enclosed on both sides by panelled wooden screens.
We are told that the late marquess's intention was that it should
be specially fitted for the Holy Thursday Exposition. The altar,
dossal, and reredos, simple and pleasing examples of the geometric
Decorated style, are wholly constructed in wood, completed with
gilding and polychrome decoration. The dossal is adorned with
two rows of moulded quatrefoils, each enclosing a painted foliated
cross. The Avooden side screens, composed of three super-imposed
tiers of narrow panels (the topmost headed with trefoil tracery)
reach to the height of the dossal and are likewise treated with
colour and gilding, crowned monograms of the saints represented
in the reredos mingling with foliated ornament.
The cornice is machicolated and the buttresses carved on all
faces with a wealth of ball-flowers. An arcading of three tall
* William Surges, R.A., was the architect of this church.
ECCLESIASTICAL FURNITURE 609
trefoil- headed panels forms the reredos, with trefoil mouldings
inthe spandrels ; it is crowned with a cornice adorned with nine
exquisitely carved leaf paterae, eight displaying a letter of the
name of the patron saint, S. ANDREAS, and one the cross,
the instrument of his martyrdom; while a boldly machicolated
cresting and simple crocketed buttresses complete the whole. The
three panels contain full-length paintings of the famous and
venerated Scottish patriots, St. Andrew (centre), St. Ninian,
and St. Margaret. The reredos mouldings are richly gilt and
painted.
Reference has been made in an earlier chapter to certain
work of Bentley's for the chapel of the Redemptorists' Liverpool
house at Bishop Eton. In 1888 he designed for them a triptych
to enclose a copy of the much-venerated picture known as
"Our Lady of Perpetual Succour." To the existing stone altar
and reredos (by Pugin) he added a sculptured retable and some
additional buttressing to support the weight of this carved, painted,
and gilt triptych. Around the picture of Mother and Child are
painted within the traceried panels half-figures of singing angels,
bearing the emblems of His fate. The suggestion for new sculp-
tured panels in the altar frontal was not carried out : they
remain, as Pugin designed them, filled with a low-relief diaper.
For Mr. Charles Stonor, late of Llanvair, Ascot, Berks, were
designed between 1891 and 1894 various fittings for the private
chapel in this house. This little oratory, with internal walls of
bare brickwork, had an apsidal sanctuary which Bentley lined
up to the window-sills with a panelled and traceried fifteenth-
century wainscotting of oak. A beautiful canopied niche for the
statue of our Lady was added on the Gospel side, and a marble
piscina in the usual place. The altar, a very pretty and simple
onyx one with a frontal divided by shafting into a triple depressed
ogee arcading, bore a beautifully wrought brass tabernacle,
circular in plan, gilt and enriched with engraving. Further acces-
sories in metal from Bentley's designs were the lamps, brackets,
and flower stands.
610 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
On the sale of Llanvair a few years back the architect-priest
Canon Scoles took down the chapel and removed the materials to
Crowthorne, Berks, with the intention of rebuilding it, eventually,
as an aisle to the contemplated church of the Holy Ghost. The
onyx altar was in 1913 re-erected in the temporary church at
Crowthorne, while the panelling is put round the sanctuary.
Bentley's opportunities of architectural practice on Irish soil
were even slighter than those offered by Scotland, although
his diaries of the mid-'eighties contain quite a list of small
commissions for St. AlpJionsus'' Church, Limerick, given by his
friend the late Rev. John O'Connell, then rector of the Redemp-
torist community in this city. From this priest, a truly charming
and saintly character, Bentley had received infinite kindness and
attention during the severe attack of typhoid which had laid
him low in 1882 ; and later accepted his cordial invitation to pay
a holiday visit to Limerick. While there Father O'Connell appears
to have suggested the preparation of drawings for five canopies,
a triptych and some Lady Chapel decorations. Since not the
faintest trace of Bentley's hand occurs in the furnishings of the
church, one must suppose that, fate soon after intervening in
the guise of the mortal illness with which Father O'Connell was
stricken, the whole matter fell into abeyance, and the succeeding
rector was either unable or unwilling to proceed with it. The
beautiful Killarney country possesses what is, we believe, the sole
piece of our architect's work in Erin, a monument in the form of
a canopied crucifix erected to the memory of Lady Alice Gaisford.
Ushaw, that great Catholic school of the north, built firm on
the history and traditions accumulated in 120 years, has good
examples of Bentley's altars and mural decoration. His friendship
with the college dated from 1862, and from time to time he
visited there, generally at the festive epoch of the "grand
academies " known as " Great Week," but the college did not,
we think, become numbered among his clients till 1894. In that
year was erected the altar to Venerable Bcde, while the chapel
enclosing it was decorated, and five years later the Lady Chapel
ECCLESIASTICAL FURNITURE 611
was similarly treated. With the kind permission of the editor of
the Ushaw College Magazine, we reproduce, practically in extenso,
its two excellent articles descriptive of these improvements, since
they detail very fully Bentley's general method of treating similar
decorative problems :
" The new altar of Venerable Bede was completed in July
1894, together with the decoration of the chapel to give it an ap-
propriate setting. It was originally intended to confine this
decoration to the chapel (built by A. Welby Pugin in 1847), but
the architect decided that it was absolutely necessary to decorate
the three bays under the screen ; and that no natural stopping
place for the decoration could be found until the whole of the
pillars supporting the rood-screen had been treated as far as the
hood mouldings of the arches facing the ante-chapel.
" The altar, made of marbles of various kinds, arrests the
eye by the two striking scenes from Venerable Bede's life in the
reredos and frontal. The former, lightly divided into three
compartments by richly gilt shafts, represents his ordination by
St. John of Beverley. The effective grouping of the figures, the
variety and striking expression of some of the faces, the excellent
balance of colour, and the remarkable way in which so much is
got into a comparatively small space without the effect of over-
crowding, combine to justify the admiration which this work
has so universally received.
" The frontal (made of pine and mahogany) represents in the
centre the death of Venerable Bede, with St. Cuthbert in one side
panel and St. Thomas of Canterbury in the other. The simple
black and white in the robes of the monk and acolytes are very
strikingly dealt with, whilst the general effect is relieved by the
stately figures of the two richly robed bishops at the sides. Some
have objected to the aggressive absence of spirituality in the
officiating monk's appearance. Mr. Bentley very deliberately and
pointedly meant this. He wished to enforce what is a fact, that
the religious life attracts, amongst other types of mankind, men
of this powerful physique ; and that, when it reforms the interior.
612 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
it does not necessarily refine them into ideal beings, but leaves
them externally as it found them, the spiritual beauty remaining
concealed within. The sunset glow of the sky through the
window of the cell recalls the fact that the saint died towards
evening.
" The north wall of Venerable Bede's Chapel and the south
wall of St. Gregory's are elaborately decorated with diaper work
in predominating tones of dull blue and green, relieved with
gilding, on a white ground. The backing to the canopies and the
end wall of the chapel are in dull Venetian red. Pairs of doves in
friendly juxtaposition are repeated above the dado in St. Gregory's
Chapel, as emblems of the saint, whilst hounds in couples occupy
corresponding positions in Venerable Bede's. The dog as an
emblem of this holy man may strike one as a novelty ; the fact
seems to be that he has no special emblem assigned to him, and
Bentley was obliged to appropriate one. In casting about for
something suitable, he found in one of Bede's writings that he
was very fond of dogs ; hence he has adopted them here, thus
making the gentle and studious monk appear in a new role, as a
patron of sport."
The cost of the altar and decorations was £300.
The stained glass of the three-light window above the altar
was designed by A. Welby Pugin in 1847.
" The decoration of the Lady Chapel (likewise erected by A. W.
Pugin in 1847, and lengthened by Dunn & Hansom when the
College Chapel was built in 1884) was completed in the summer
of 1899. Some years previously, about the time that the decora-
tion of Venerable Bede's Chapel was in progress, certain minor
structural changes had been made in the Lady Chapel, to knit its
various parts together, with a view to a satisfactory scheme of
decoration. An arcade of three arches had been inserted in the
recess to the left of the original altar, which was retained and
raised a step higher ; and the spring of the roof from the walls
had been marked by a bolder and richer cornice.
" The decoration of this chapel is a study in blue and green,
ECCLESIASTICAL FURNITURE 613
gold being sparingly used with the addition of white and grey to
give value to the colour. The old altar was retained and refixed
with the addition of a gradus ; its enriehment of oxidised silver,
various shades of gold and colour glazed with gold, makes it stand
out as a feature from the general scheme of decoration. The
monogram of the Blessed Virgin is repeated in the ten panels
into which the frontal is divided.
" The dado, divided into alternate longitudinal strips of blue
and green, by lines of a chevron pattern, is charged with crowned
monograms in gold and white and surmounted by a running
design of conventional roses in colour. The walls above are
covered with a large diaper in grey and white, ceasing at the
window-jambs, which are enriched with labels inscribed with in-
vocations from the litany of our Lady, enclosing an abbreviation
of her name in gold. The arches of the windows are marked by
paterae in gold and colour, and the clustered shafts and moulded
arches are similarly treated. Rayed emblems of our Lady,
notably the fleur-de-lys, fill the panelling in the ceiling with rich
effect, whilst the cornice with its golden brattishing, standing out
against a blue coved background, attaches the roof to the walls
and completes the whole."
The stained glass windows in this chapel are by A. W. Pugin
and E. Frampton.
The Catholic Church of the Holy Name, Manchester, possesses, we
believe, the sole example of Bentley's art in that great industrial
city of the north. It is a fourteenth-century Gotliic structui'e
designed by Joseph A. Hanson in 1869. Built out on the south
side, about midway down, and parallel to the aisle, is a chapel
important both in size and dedication, by reason of the picture
above the altar, known as the Madonna della Strada, which makes
this a favourite and much-venerated shrine in the city. The cost
of the erection of the chapel and of its sumptuous altar and
mural decoration was defrayed by devout members of the con-
gregation. Bentley, who had no previous connection with the
church, was invited in 1891, dming the rectorate of the Rev. Bernard
614 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
Vaughan, S.J. (brother of the Cardinal), to prepare the scheme of
decoration. His design involved certain minor structural altera-
tions, which were duly carried out. The chapel, consisting of six
bays, is ceiled with a groined vault, in whose intersections roundels
have at some period been inserted to give additional light. Other
illumination enters through the traceried arcading of the north side.
The south wall is broken up by a traceried blind arcading, and to
complete it Bentley introduced panelled wainscoting reacliing to
the springing of the stilted arch of the sanctuary ; he carried this
panelUng the whole length of the wall and also round the piers.
The lower panels are rectangular, the upper terminate in cusped
ogees and tracery, headed by a broad moulded cornice, and they are
finished with painted ornament. The marble altar may be ranked
among Bentley's most exquisite creations ; its removable frontal is
a veritable tour de force of carved woodwork, coloured and gilt and
displaying between the twisted branches wliich form its groundwork
five scroll-bearing angels, painted in delicate tones. These scrolls
contain respectively the words Fiat — mihi — secundum — verbum —
tuum. The wooden reredos, likewise richly carved and gilt, con-
sists of seven traceried panels containing painted representations
of those Prophets of the Old Testament whose prophecies related
directly to the Blessed Virgin, a theme Bentley, in his great love of
symbolism, never tired of treating. The ground colour of the
decoration is chiefly a deep rich blue, powdered with the monogram
of ovu- Lady in a quatrefoil, enrayed. Above the exquisitely free
and delicate cresting of this reredos rises the picture to whose
veneration the chapel is dedicated. Bentley enframed it in a
triptych of very precious and refined design, with traceried wings
and elaborate pierced work at the top of the central portion, while
the letters MARIA appear in a little fivefold arcading at the base.
The altar and its surroundings belong to the same period and style
as Bentley's beautiful contributions to the London church of St.
James, Spanish Place. The chapel was completed for the solemn
opening by Cardinal Vaughan on the occasion of the Silver Jubilee
of the church on April 19th, 1894 (Plate XCV).
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ECCLESIASTICAL FURNITURE 6l5
Fonts and Font Covers
Besides the early example at St. Francis's Church, Netting
Hill, we believe there exists no other font and but one font cover
by Bentley in London, and that in a church of the Establish-
ment, namely, Christ Church, Streatham Hill, a Lombardesque
structure built by Wilde about 1840, which possesses, as we
have seen, early stained glass by Bentley and Westlake, and a
brass altar cross by the former. The font cover, the gift of the
late Mr. George Dent, a local resident and member of the parish
for many years, was made in 1890, in the form of an octagonal
turret, its traceried panels being constructed of mahogany and the
buttresses of oak, for greater strength (Plate XCVI). The inscrip-
tion that encircles the base is in golden lettering on a blue ground.
The squat, broody appearance of the dove on the summit is
not the architect's fault ; the bird in his drawing was lightly
poised, and the change was made to satisfy the expressed wish
of the donor.
There is a further departure from plan, the canopy being
meant for suspension, the position of the font to be altered accord-
ingly ; but owing to structural difficulties it was never moved, and
we believe that the weight of the cover and the trouble of moving
it by hand account for the regrettable fact that it has been rele-
gated now to the obscurity of a corner of the south aisle. The
font has since been placed in a central position at the west end
of the nave. The brass font ewer was presented by another near
neighbour and benefactor of this church, the late Mr, John
Montefiore.
In provincial churches there are two fonts to put on record ;
those at Westerham in Kent and St. Peter'' s, Doncaster. The Parish
Church of St. Mary, Westerham, a Perpendicular structure
famed for its memories of General Wolfe, who, born almost beneath
the shadow of its walls, was baptized therein in January 1727,
contains a good example of a simple stone font by Bentley, erected
in 1870. The gift of Mrs. Bosworth, to perpetuate the memory
616 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
of her three gallant soldier sons, it stood for a number of years
in the centre aisle, just east of the western tower arch. The
old stone font, being thus put out of use, was presented to the
neighbouring village of Tatsfield.
In recent years, however, Tatsfield's own ancient font, dis-
covered in a garden, has been replaced in its parish church, and
the old Westerham font has returned to its original home and
position, displacing therefore the Bosworth memorial, now disused
and relegated to a corner of the tower. It is to be regretted
that its donor's pious intention should thus suffer, the more so as
the old font can claim no conspicuous artistic merit, although,
of course, from the standpoint of association, it possesses a
hallowed interest to which no modern font, however fine, could
aspire.
Bentley's simple design consists of a Caen stone bowl and stem
on a plinth and step of Portland stone, the octagonal bowl sculp-
tured with the evangelistic symbols on its four cardinal sides, the
intervening spaces being traceried. The buttressed stem has leaf
paterae carved two to each face upon the mouldings beneath the
juncture of bowl and stem; sculptured around the step is the
dedicatory inscription. The cost was £25.
The church also possesses a fine organ-case by liim, to be
described later. It was a pity that his suggestion for improving
the pulpit was never carried out. When the late Mr. Teulon
restored the building in 1854, he swept away the old three-
decker, replacing it with a hexagonal " Gothic " pulpit in var-
nished oak, the base of which was to consist, according to this
architect's design, of a wooden arcading borne on marble shafting.
These shafts appear to have been omitted, so that as the pulpit
now is, the springing of the arcading is set down in ungainly
fashion flat upon the stone plinth, and the low erection is singu-
larly lacking in grace and dignity. Bentley's proposition was to
do away with this arcaded base, and to raise the wooden pulpit
to a suitable height by means of a simple and well-proportioned
pedestal of the same stone as the existing plinth, with the addi-
ECCLESIASTICAL FURNITURE 617
tion of the necessary flight of five stone steps to give convenient
access to the pulpit.
We have already, in passing, mentioned the font at St. Peter's,
Doncaster, designed by Bentley in 1883 for the late Rev. William
Burke, then in charge of the mission, and executed in Caen stone
by the Doncaster stonemason, Peter Cooke, at that time working
for Bentley in London. The octagonal basin is borne on a circular
shaft with moulded base and capital, rising from a foundation
platform about 8 in. high. The eight faces of the bowl are en-
riched by a simple early form of tracery. Its plain cover is of
oak.
Pulpits
Exclusive of any designed for his own churches, we can trace
but two pulpits by Bentley, one in Berkshire and one in York-
shire. That in St. Mary's, Cholsey, near Wallingford, dates from
1882, and was a commission given through the influence of his friend
Prebendary Barff, until ten years earlier vicar of the neighbouring
village of North Moreton. The pulpit, constructed of Spanish oak,
and a fine example of wood carving, is illustrated in Plate XCVII, A.
The four shields in the spandrels of the arcaded panels are en-
circled with fruit and leafage of the vine, and carved with the
emblems of the Passion, the first symbolic of the Betrayal, dis-
playing Judas Iscariot's lantern, the torch borne to the Garden
of Gethsemane, and the sword which struck off the ear of the
High Priest's servant. On the second are revealed the instrvi-
ments symbolic of the second act of the great drama, the scourges
and the pillar of torture. The nails, hammer and pincers, above
a thorny Crown, appear on the third shield, while on the fourth
are represented the Cross, the spear and sponge. A dedicatory
inscription carved beneath the cornice records that the pulpit
was erected by his children to the memory of the Rev. H. W.
Lloyd, thirty-seven years vicar of the parish, 1836-73.
The other pulpit is in the new Catholic cathedral of St. Anne,
Leeds, which, opened in 1904, superseded the old building, dating
618 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
from 1838. The architect of the present cathedral was another
Yorkshireman, the late John Henry Eastwood. It appears that in
1894 Bentley was asked to design for St. Anne's, not only this
pulpit, but also a high altar, suitable marble paving for choir
and sanctuary and a complete scheme of interior mural decora-
tion. Altar and pavement eventually were dropped out of the
scheme, but the remainder was carried out, including the painted
decoration of the organ, to harmonize with the rest, the details
of whose traceried Gothic case were emphasized by the use of
pale sage-green, bordered with a quarter-inch white line, cut in
square at the chamfers. The general ground colour was a very
deep restrained blue.
Bentley's pulpit, moved to the new cathedral at the demolition
of the old, is illustrated in Plate XCVII, B ; base and coping are
constructed of Hopton Wood stone ; the upper part of the struc-
ture is of alabaster, with traceried side panels and a large
centre panel containing an opus sectile picture. The subject is
Christ's charge to St. Peter. A dedicatory inscription of mediaeval
simplicity on a small white marble tablet inserted below reads :
" Hoc pulpitum faciendum curavit Petrus O'Hara cui Beatus
Claviger aperiat regnum coelorum, a.d. 1897."
Miscellaneous Ecclesiastical Accessobies
Among a few such may be mentioned the oak and Kauri pine
relic cupboards, with plate glass doors, made for the sacristy of
the Jesuit Church in Farm Street, Mayfair, in 1890 ; and a fine
set of Stations of the Cross designed for the Church of the
Sacred Heart at Wimbledon about ten years later. These pictures,
painted on canvas, have gold backgrounds and measure 3 ft. 6 in.
square, being framed in simple gilt mouldings 2| in. wide. The
artist, Mr. Innes Fi'ipp, who worked from cartoons prepared from
Bentley's sketches, did not complete the series till about a year
after the architect's death. The fourteen pictures, costing £30
apiece, were the gifts of various pious persons, either in their own
names or those of deceased relatives.
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Plate XCIX, L)]..,u..\ for Grave Cross for Mrs. Peek (1884). On the Reverse is the Crowic
OF Thorns surrounding I.H.S. Inscription on Base
(Inch scale.)
[';!»•
ECCLESIASTICAL FURNITURE 619
Organ-Cases
In view of the affection and unstinted admiration evinced
towards Bentley by his friend Mr. T. C. Lewis, the well-known
organ-builder, whom we have already mentioned several times, it
was only natural that, whenever possible, the commissions to
design cases for the instruments built by that firm should be sent
to the John Street office. From 1864 onwards Bentley made
drawings for something over forty organ-cases, almost all the
communions coming to him through Mr. Lewis's kindly agency ;
a small proportion of this number were never carried out.
Among church organs in the metropolis whose authorship
should not be allowed to fall into oblivion, the earliest seems to
be an ebonized case of simple scope made in 1869 for St. Peter's,
Vauxhall, a church built by Pearson a decade earlier. Next in point
of time comes an organ with a somewhat chequered history, now
at rest in St. Anne^s Church, Brondesbury, where it is placed against
the north wall of the chancel. It was originally made for Cox's
Rooms in Hanover Square, which in 1870 occupied the corner
house that is now the home of the Oriental Club. Bentley sub-
mitted two designs, the second of which was found acceptable.
When Cox's Rooms were given up some years later, the organ
and case were purchased by the late Rev. Mr. Haweis for his
church, St. James's, in Westmoreland Street, and in 1905, after
his death, this church being about to be demolished, the organ
was presented to the Brondesbury parish above mentioned. The
case is black, with some gold decoration, the organ a three-
manual instrument with pipes of spotted metal.
The following year saw the erection of the organ at All Saints\
Old Kent Road, of which the case is a quite unimportant specimen.
An organ and case, the mouldings of the latter of rather heavy
design to suit the extreme coarseness of the church's architecture,
were built for St. George's Presbyterian Church at Croydon in
1873. A number built for country and provincial churches
follow on the list ; the next for London appears to be a case made
620 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
for the Lewis organ at St. John's, Wilton Road, S.W., that Lom-
bardie church of gloomy exterior close to Victoria Station.
This case was, one is bound to admit, one of the least successful of
Bentley's designs, and but little of it now remains. Originally
it was an important-looking erection with a double row of pipes
in the aisle ; now the upper part of the case has been removed,
and the rather sombre and heavy lower portion re-erected above
the arcading on the north side of the chancel.
St. Mary's, Newington, S.E., possesses a fine instrument
finely encased, the gift in 1876 of the late Mr. William Tarn, who
was the successful owner of the great block of outfitting shops
that once occupied one side of Newington Causeway. In this
instance the commission for the case was bestowed directly on
Bentley. The organ occupies the south chancel arch, the console
being advanced somewhat into the chancel ; the organist is
seated therefore with his back to the choir seats. Quatrefoil
tracery heads the arcading of nine panels which embellish the
middle stage of the case, made of fumed English oak ; the coved
panelling above the centre portion terminates in a beautifully
moulded cornice whence spring the undecorated pipes embraced
within a delicately brattished band. The two foremost buttresses
rise above this line to terminate in a pair of graceful angel
statuettes.
In 1886 Mr. Charles Bannister gave, in memory of his wife, a
case and a fourth row of keys to the organ at St. PanVs, Onslow
Square, of which Prebendary Webb-Peploe was then the incum-
bent. There was much beautiful Avork in this case, which, situated
as it was in the dark gallery of the west end, never seemed to tell.
The organ was completely rebuilt by Messrs. Walker about
fourteen years ago, who embodied, we understand, much of the
old instrument in the new.
Then follows, as far as London is concerned, a gap of some-
thing over a dozen years, until about 1899 we find Bentley at
work on the cases for the Lewis organs erected at St. John's,
Hammersmith,, and St. Etheldreda's, Ely Place. The former church,
ECCLESIASTICAL FURNITURE 621
built by Butterfield and consecrated in 1859, contains a side
chapel by Bentley already mentioned in an earlier chapter. The
organ, erected in the north chancel aisle, projects somewhat into
the chancel to rear its gorgeous and stately tmreted front against
the background of the arcading.
Both organ and case, the latter of deal painted and gilt, were
the gift of the late Mrs. Robert Courage, of Queen's Gate. The
colour scheme employed for its decoration is a symphony of dark
greenish blue and gold of silvery tone, with the relief afforded
by the introduction of a small quantity of light Indian red and
dull pale green in the upper panels. Golden tongues of flame are
everywhere powdered upon the groundwork. Harmony of setting
is encompassed by Bentley's decoration of the chancel pillars and
arcading, with a painted interlacement of stems and leafage in
dull greenish blue on a white ground.
There will be occasion to mention and illustrate in the next
chapter the splendid oak organ-case arranged in two parts on the
screen of the ante-chapel in the ancient church of St. Etheldreda,
Ely Place, Holhorn ; it will suffice therefore to refer the reader to
the photograph (Plate CIV). The case was kept very small on
each side in order to avoid encroachment upon the west window.
The list of organ-cases in provincial towns opens with that in
the church of St. Hilda, South Shields, constructed in 1865. The
design is Greek to suit the classical style of the building and the
instrument occupies its original position at the south-east corner
of the church, at the end of the side gallery, above which it rises
to some height, being 23 ft. high, 13 ft. on face, and 16 ft. in
projection. It is plain in character, painted in Indian red, with
stencilled vine ornament on the pilasters. The pipes also partake
of the ornamentation.
Another important city of the north comes next, namely,
Newcastle-upon-Tyne, where in 1869 Mr. Lewis built a great organ
for St. Mary's, the Catholic cathedral, at an initial cost of £1,200,
raised by public subscription, Mr. Manuel Pelegrin, for many
years a member of the congregation, being foremost among the
n— 19
622 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
most energetic and active members of the subscribers' committee.
At St. Mary's, built by A. Welby Pugin a quarter of a century
earlier, it was intended to prepare a proper chamber for the organ
on the south side of the chancel ; temporarily the instrument was
installed in the western gallery, a position it continues to occupy
till this day. The undecorated pipes are effectively grouped
along the entire front of the panelled oak case, the console being
in the centre. Carved angels (added by Bentley in 1872) sur-
mount the lateral buttresses of the advanced central portion of
the case. The refined treatment of its joinery and carving are
in pleasant contrast to the coarse and ugly details of the gallery
balustrade.
Yet further north is to be found what is, we believe, one of the
only two examples, and an inconspicuous one at that, of our
architect's work in Scotland. This is the case, a pretty little
Gothic affair in oak, panelled and carved and with an open
fretted arcading above the manual, made for a small organ built
in 1870 at the order of the late Archbishop Eyre for St. Patrick's
Church, Hill Street, Glasgow. This building is now used as a
mission church, and the organ was removed to another St. Patrick's,
in North Street, about twelve years ago.
About the same period was built the organ at St. Stephen's,
Norwich, with pitch pine case and decorated pipes. Originally
it stood in a recess or chapel in the north aisle, but was moved
some years since to its present position at the east end of this
aisle.
The organ at St. Clemenfs, Leeds, claims the distinction of
being the first supplied by the Lewis firm to any Yorkshire church,
and was considered at the time of its opening (1875) to be one of
the finest in the North of England. Bentley encased it in a severely
plain oak panelled case, surmounted by ornamental pipes, and
it remains to-day the same as when built, having undergone
merely slight cleaning and renovation. It stands in a chamber
at the north-east corner, with front and console occupying one
side of the chancel.
ECCLESIASTICAL FURNITURE 623
St. John's (Catholic) Cathedral, Salford, should by rights
possess a case by Bentley, which would have been undoubtedly
one of the finest ever designed by him. The drawings were made
in 1874, but it fell — in company with those for St. Stephen's,
Brighton, St. John's, Torquay, and a number of others — into the
category of works never carried out. Yet another design for a
building of historic interest became abortive — more is the pity.
The Hon. Richard Strutt offered to present an organ-case to be
drawn by Bentley (who was then — 1883 — erecting one in this
gentleman's house in Eccleston Square) to St. Augustine's,
Canterbury, a generous offer which unfortunately met with a
refusal.
Another Catholic church in Yorkshire became possessed in
this year of an exceptionally good specimen of Bentley's work ;
indeed it is said to rank among the best of his achievements in
this direction. This is the organ-case at St. Marie's, Sheffield, a
church built by his friend Matthew Hadfield in 1846. Unfortu-
nately it cannot be illustrated, as owing to the want of light it
would be impossible to obtain a photograph in the least degree
satisfactory. The carving (by that excellent craftsman, J. E.
Knox) is of a very high degree of merit.
The history of the instrument at the church of St. Mary the
Virgin, Saffron Walden, is a chequered one. It was entirely recon-
structed by Lewis & Co. in 1885, some of the old work being incor-
porated with the new organ, at a total cost of just under £1,150.
Bentley designed a new front costing £120. In 1911, Norman &
Beard rebuilt the Lewis organ, and moved Bentley's front, which
consists of traceried panels beneath an upper part panelled and
coved to carry the pipes, to the back, bringing forward again,
and thus reversing their relative positions, the front built by
Vincent in 1820.
Among organs for village churches the following should be
noted as possessing the greatest interest and originality : a very
pretty carved oaken case for the tiny instrument at the Parish
Church of Little Bookham, Surrey, built in 1869; and a small
624 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
organ erected by Lewis in the same year, and encased by Bentley,
at the old Parish Church of Heme, Kent.
Already there has been occasion to speak, in connection with
its font, of the Parish Church at Westerham, Kent. The organ
and case here, eminently beautiful and satisfactory achievements,
in harmony with the Perpendicular character of the edifice, were
the gift of the late Colonel George Warde of Squerries Court, piously
erected to his father's memory in 1871. In communicating the
offer of this handsome gift to the vicar and churchwardens. Colonel
Warde explained the motive that inspired his choice : " For
ostentatious monuments I have no taste, and I believe the plan
I am now about to propose is the one of all others my father
would himself have preferred." He goes on to lay down certain
conditions, one of which was that the organ should be " placed
in the aperture of the central window in the north wall of the
church and a substantial chamber erected," and that " the
proceeds of the sale of the old organ be devoted to the cost of
providing seats for the choir if required." '
Colonel Warde's conditions were gladly accepted, but appar-
ently the construction of a chamber was not deemed advisable, for
Bentley succeeded in satisfying him with a case of handsome pro-
portions and detail, having a blower's box at one side enclosed
within pierced screen work, and the console, in part enclosed by
lateral pierced screens, at the other. The instrument has since
been moved to the extreme east end of the north aisle of the
chancel, a position that was dedicated to vestry use when the organ
was first put up. Clergy and choir vestries are now built at the
west end, on the north side of the tower. The central and tallest
portion of the case consists below of panelling, in two stages, the
lower carved in linen-fold pattern, the upper pierced with quatre-
foils and headed with cinquefoil tracery. The inscription carved
upon the cornice which crowns this portion reads : "To the
Honour and Glory of God and in affectionate remembrance
of Admiral Charles Warde, K.H., who died V January,
' It was purchased by Colonel Prevost for £40.
ECCLESIASTICAL FURNITURE 625
MDCCCLXIX, this organ is dedicated by his son George Warde
of Squerries Court, MDCCCLXXI."
At the next stage the centre is slightly carried forward, the
details being altogether more ornate. The fivefold arcading com-
posing it is arranged in a double series of superposed cusped
ogees, the apex of the lower being prolonged and carried
upwards in a series of elaborate crockets into the central cusping
of the upper panels. Right and left, similar panels, kept solid,
display within their lower traceries the armorial devices of the
donor's family. A cornice of beautiful and uncommon scroll-
work surmounts this part of the case ; while small figures
of trumpeting angels stand upon the terminal buttresses. The
panels in the set-back side portions of the upper front of the case
enclose and reveal behind ornate and delicate tracery the undecor-
ated pipes. The cornice here is machicolated. The eye is in-
sensibly led upward to the fine crown of this beautiful piece of
design provided by the leaf brattishing of the swell box cornice.
The material is fumed oak of a rich tone ; in wrought iron are
made the simple hinges and lock plates, which though good in design
reveal naught of the magnificence characteristic of Bentley's
later work in this craft. The complete cost of organ and case,
opened in April 1871, was £800. This affords one of the rare
instances where the commission for the case was given directly to
Bentley, Mr. Bartlett, the then vicar, calling at 13, John Street,
to desire him to undertake it on January 4th, 1871,
The next recorded case for a village church is of a different
type, being dependent chiefly on painted decoration for its adorn-
ment, by means of which a very pleasing result is attained. This
little organ, on the north side of the chancel at All Saints^ Church,
Hordle, Hants, was the gift, as was the chancel and all its
contents, of the late Mr. Kinnaird, when the church was built
and consecrated in 1872. The organ-case, though simple in its
main lines, as will be recognized in the photograph, is full of
delightful detail. The ground colour of the central doors and left-
hand panels is a greyish apple-green, that of the narrow vertical
626 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
lateral panels and most of the horizontal mouldings is a pale
diill Venetian red. The coved panelling carrying the upper part
of the case is gilt, green being the chief hue in its foliated orna-
mentation ; the scroll lettering is white. The detail powdered
on doors and panels is generally green and white. Gold is the
predominant effect in the carved and pierced panels of the upper
part, into which red and white are introduced in small details.
The pipes are unpainted. " The whole design," says the vicar,"
in conclusion, " is most striking and beautiful. The paint is
still quite good and has never been touched since the day of its
completion" (Plate XCVIII, A).
At St. John the Baptist's, Wonersh, is an organ originally
designed for the house of the late Mr. Robert Courage, Snowden-
ham, near Guildford, It was presented to this church a few years
ago, and is placed in the transept on the south side of the chancel,
where it is not visible from the body of the church. The case is
one of extreme simplicity.
The case of the organ at Denton, Lincolnshire (1888) possesses
a peculiar interest, the design (illustrated, Plate XCVIII, B) being
based upon that of the famous organ at Old Radnor, believed to
be the oldest extant in this country, and dating back to the
century of the Tudor dynasty. Denton Church was then under-
going restoration by Sir Arthur Blomfield, at the expense of Sir
William Welby, of Denton Hall, near Grantham. Colonel Welby,
his brother, was desirous of giving a memorial organ, but, for
reasons of his own, did not wish to employ Sir William's architect.
Lewis, commissioned to build the organ and on very friendly
terms with Blomfield, found himself on the horns of a dilemma,
for he could hardly introduce another architect without giving
serious offence to Blomfield. A way out of the difficulty was
devised, however, by getting Bentley to make a design on the
model of the above-mentioned ancient Welsh organ, a plan which
' We are indebted for the above description to the courtesy of the vicar of Hordle,
the Rev. E. P. Boys-Smith, and for the photograph to tlie kindness of the Rev. A. L.
Barker, till lately vicar of the neighbouring village of Sway.
MONUMENTS AND MEMORIALS 627
proved entirely successful, for the case, although sufficiently
resembling its model, is, remarked Mr. Lewis, " a thousand times
better."
This completes, as far as we are aware, the tale of organ-
cases in village churches ; but there remain upon our list a few
that do not fall into either of the three categories enumerated,
such, for example, as that designed in 1872 for a convent chapel
at Taunton (Chapter XVIII), and a few intended for the making
of chamber music. These last have been referred to in the
chapter on Domestic Furniture.
Monuments and Memorials
It has seemed well, for lack of a better place, to include at the
end of this chapter a short account of certain monuments
designed by our architect. The earliest gravestone, according
to his diary, is dated 1863, and entered under the name of Darley ;
but in the case of this monument, as of a number of others within
that decade, it has proved impossible to trace the ownership,
whereabouts and style. The first, therefore, of which we have
any accurate record is the simple headstone cross erected over
the grave of Cardinal Manning's friend and fellow-convert. Mother
Mary Elizabeth Lockhart, who died in July 1870. She was buried
in the tiny private burial ground, a piece of their garden, of the
Franciscan nuns in Portobello Road, Bayswater, to which com-
munity she had stood in the relation of first abbess. Subse-
quently to the sale of this convent to the Dominicanesses, her
body, with those of other religious there interred, was removed
to the Franciscans' new abode at Rocking, Essex. Her grave-
stone is characterized by the fine cut of the Latin inscription,
surmounted by the sculptured arms of the Order.
Among monuments designed by Ren tley in London cemeteries
the following may be mentioned : In Kensal Green Cemetery
there are several, beginning with the tomb erected to the memory
of Mrs, and Miss Hartley by the Very Rev. T. Dillon in 1872
628 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
— its coffin-shaped bodystone of Hopton Wood stone is sculptured
with a floriated cross running the whole length ; — another is the
tombstone of the Rev. George Beckwith Yard, who together with
his brother,' Major Frederick Yard, were in the circle of Bentley's
intimate friends, which was made in 1873 ; this monument also takes
the form of a bodystone ; a cross is sculptured along the ridge, with
a book and chalice on the sloping sides. Then there is the grave
cross, close to the Catholic Mortuary Chapel, put up in 1887 by
the late Professor Frederick Barff to the memory of his wife
Margaretta, beneath which his body also rests.
A fourth grave at Kensal Green, no longer to be found there,
was also marked by ? monument designed by Bentley ; it was
that in which the remains of Cardinal Manning lay from their
burial in January 1892 until their translation to the crypt of West-
minster Cathedral just fifteen years later. Bentley's original
and strikingly beautiful design for the tomb of his venerated
pastor and friend (here reproduced) was considerably modified
in the direction of simplicity. It consisted finally of a slab
with headstone, the former occupied by a leaded inscription,
the latter having a sculptured crucifix, somewhat as seen in the
drawing (Plate C).
In the little countrified Catholic cemetery of Mortlake, near
Barnes, quite near to the spot where Bentley himself rests, he put
up a simple and beautiful gravestone to the memory of Wilfred
Watts-Russell, who died in 1881. (?)
In another Catholic graveyard of South-West London, St.
Thomas's, Fulham, there is a headstone of Renaissance type
perpetuating the memory of a faithful friend and servant. It
was erected by the Hon. Hubert Dormer and his children in 1892.
At Highgate Cemetery, in the inner circle, was put up a year
later the flat tombstone, decorated with a sculptured cross and
foliage, in memory of the first wife of Mr. John A. Whitaker, of
the Grange, Whetstone, Herts.
^ The altar dedicated to St. Joseph in the church of St. Mary of the Angela, Bayswater,
Is likewise a memorial to this saintly priest, erected by some of his flock.
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MONUMENTS AND MEMORIALS 629
Details have been found, but nothing to indicate the where-
abouts of two other monuments, possibly for some London
cemetery : a tomb in Sicilian and fossil marbles, designed to the
orderof Mrs. Hutchins, of 38, Portland Place, in 1876; and a grave
cross (Plate XCIX) for Mrs. Peek, of Roby, Sydenham Hill, 1884.
The inscription in the latter case appears on all four sides of the
base. In the circle at the back of the cross is sculptured the
Crown of Thorns round the sacred symbol, I.H.S.
In Ireland, over the grave of Lady Alice Gaisford, rises
undoubtedly the most beautiful and certainly the most im-
portant of all Bentley's monumental designs. This lady, younger
daughter of the seventh Marquess of Lothian and wife of the late
Thomas Gaisford of Offington, Sussex, died at Killarney on
January 25th, 1892. This memorial was erected to her memory
by the late Countess (Dowager) of Keiunare and many of Lady
Alice Gaisford's relatives and friends. Bentley went over to
stay at Killarney with the Kenmares that summer to inspect the
lovely spot where Lady Alice's grave had been made, and sub-
sequently he submitted to the donors two or three designs for
the proposed monument. That chosen contained a crucifix, to
be sheltered completely from the elements by a late fifteenth-
century canopy, square on plan and 15 ft. high, in the form of
a tiny chapel with an open doorway on two sides and traceried
unglazed window openings on the others.' The material was
Portand stone, the inscription tablet at the foot of the cross being
of rosso antico marble. The white stone cross, with its Divine
Figure sculptured with the profoundest religious feeling, stands on
high ground, with the beautiful lakes and mountains as a back-
ground, and forms a landmark visible for miles around. The
illustration is taken from a small plaster model made by the
sculptor.
Among a few memorial mural tablets from Bentley's designs
may be mentioned two sent out to the West Indies in 1872 and
1886 respectively ; the former in memory of some one named Ellis,
1 The cost was £472.
c.
630 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
with ornamentation of mosaic work and painted tiles ; the latter,
erected to Mrs. Caroline Thorne, is affixed to the wall of the church
wherein she was buried in 1885. The materials used are white
marble and red (Newbiggen) stone, and it may be remarked that
both commissions came through the late Mr. John Montefiore, for
whom Bentley had designed a memorial cross to be set up in
Barbadoes about the same time as the Ellis tablet.
The mural tablets in the church of the Holy Rood, Watford,
have already been mentioned in the account of its building ;
and so too will be the fine memorial to the Rev. W. Rogers in the
north aisle of St. Botolph's, Bishopsgate, They were all work
of the year 1893.
Another memorial, which belongs to neither of the foregoing
classes, is that erected at the Jesuit College of Stonyhurst, Lanca-
shire, in 1889, by Mrs. Butler of Bunnahow, Co. Clare, in memory
of her son William Lambert Butler, a student of the college. It
takes the form of a statue of St. Alphonsus, the patron of young
students, and stands in the open air, in front of the school buildings.
The youthful saint, the fingers of whose left hand rest between
the pages of a book, looks down with an expression of tender
solicitude from the height of a charmingly simple pedestal of
English Renaissance design. The symbolic lily branch is carried
in his right hand. Statue and pedestal together measure about
17 ft. high and are made of Hopton Wood stone.
CHAPTER XXV
RESTORATION OF ANCIENT CHURCHES
Battlesden Church — Advice concerning St. Stephen's, Wallbrook^St. Botolph's, Aid-
gate— St. Botolph's, Bishopsgate — Holy Trinity, Minories— St. Etheldreda's, Ely
Place — St. Mark's, North Audley Streets— Bolney Church, Sussex.
There has already been occasion in the chronological record of
Bentley's practice from 1860-70 to speak of certain small works
of restoration done in the chancel of the Norman Church at North-
bourne, Kent, in 1866. His second excursion into the field of
restoration was also a small matter, and likewise concerned the
east end of a church, that at Battlesden in Bedfordshire in 1877.
Bentley had previously designed for it a pretty and simple stone
reredos, never carried out, possibly on account of financial reasons.
The restoration included the insertion of a new east window of
three lights with simple tracery in Early Decorated style, subse-
quently filled with stained glass by another hand. The condition
of the old wall necessitated the taking down of the two buttresses
and their complete rebuilding, utilizing the old materials as far
as possible. They were finished in every respect as the facing of
the north wall of the chancel, ragstone being used as before,
while for water-tables, groins, and plinths Corsham Down Bath
stone was employed. The eastern restoration was the gift of
Mrs. Blacker in memory of her husband. Captain Blacker, who
died in 1875. Bentley later designed some stained glass for the
easternmost window on the north side of the nave. It has received
fuller mention in the chapter devoted to that subject.
City Churches
Bentley's first professional connection with the old churches
of the City of London, though but a brief and abortive one, may
be quoted to show the conservative spirit by which he was
631
632 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
guided when approaching the problem of the restoration of ancient
fabrics. It appears tliat the late Mr. R. W. Scobell, a friend of
T. C. Lewis and a churchwarden of St. Stephen's, Wallbrook,'
being anxious that Bentley should undertake certain alterations
and repairs required by the church, took him in May 1883 to
inspect and report upon it, with a view to inducing the rector
and his co-churchwarden, Mr. Kempe, to adopt him as architect.
At the next vestry meeting Mr. Scobell duly product i Bentley's
recommendation " that the floor should be examined and made
good where decayed, but that the pewing and fittings should not
in any way be interfered with, except repaired."
Bentley's temperate counsel did not, however, commend itself
to the other authorities, who instead chose the late Alexander
Peebles, architect and a Common Councilman of the ward, to
act in the matter in consultation with the late Mr. Penrose, archi-
tect to St. Paul's. Under their directions the high pews were
removed, and square stone bases for the columns were substituted
in place of the lofty octagonal oaken bases, which looked absurdly
stilted when stripped of the surrounding pews. The floor was
concreted all over and covered with mosaic tesserae. Mr. Scobell
has pointed out to the writer that " square stone bases to the
columns of the interior are as represented in a very old engraving
of the church now hanging in the vestry, and showing no pewing.
This leads one to suppose that the present appearance is in all
respects the same as before the pewing took place." From which
perhaps one may also infer that Bentley was in all probability
not cognizant of this engraving when he prepared liis scheme for
improving the interior.
{a) St. Botolph^s, Aldgate
St. Botolph's, Aldgate, one of the four churches dedicated to
this patron of travellers which once existed in the City of London,
is that placed at the old eastern exit from the City walls.
' Built between 1676-8, it was one of the earliest to be erected by Wren after the
Great Fire.
RESTORATION OF ANCIENT CHURCHES 633
The edifice now standing was built to replace an older one,
pulled down in 1741 on account of its serious state of dilapidation.
The architect was the elder Dance, architect of the Mansion House,
and the cost over £5,500. Built of red brick, with stone dressings
and stone spire, it was completed in 1744. The fabric uiidcrwent
some restoration in 1875, when its faulty interior heaviness was
somewhat modified ; but it fell to Bentley about thirteen years
later to redeem it altogether from this reproach. It should be
mentioned that the church's main axis lies north and south, the
altar being placed at the north end.
Dvu-ing the latter years of the incumbency of the Rev, J. M,
Roberton, the chvu-ch being sadly in need of repair, a church
restoration committee was appointed and a faculty obtained for
carrying out certain plans prepared by Mr. George Sparks. The
vicar dying before work began, the faculty lapsed, and during the
vacancy of the living it was impossible to take further steps.
The late Rev. R. H. Hadden, B.A., was inducted to the vicarage
on March 1st, 1888, and on March I3th the committee met again.
The new vicar intimated his objection to the proposed alterations
and said (having Bentley in mind) that he would wish to be
guided by the advice of some eminent ecclesiastical architect.
It was therefore unanimously resolved that a sum of twenty
guineas be voted to enable such advice to be obtained, and
Bentley was selected to make the report, which, since its recom-
mendations were adopted almost in toto, shall be quoted in full.
It opens as follows :
..." I have made a careful survey of the church of St.
Botolph, Aldgate, with the object of placing it in a thorough
state of reparation and of remodelling the interior in order to
bring it more into unison with modern requirements ; at the
same time retaining the leading characteristics so intimately
bound up with local associations existing for nearly a century
and a half. In submitting this report for your consideration it
is my duty to state that I have been actuated by a desire to
respect as far as possible the original intention of the designer and
634 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
all other features of interest that connect the present with the
past. Further, I propose, for those who follow after us, to add
to the interest of the structure by introducing into a subsequent
scheme of decoration memorials of notable worthies historically
associated with the parish.
" The normal defects of the interior are the oppressive gloomi-
ness of the lower or ground stage, the extreme heaviness of the
middle or gallery stage, and the abject barrenness of the upper or
ceihng stage ; to which may be added the meanness of the chancel
arrangements and the inadequacy of the vestry accommodation,
to remedy which is the aim of the following remarks.
" Commencing at the entrance, I should suggest that the
whole of the screened enclosure under the end gallery be removed,
proper glazed swing doors substituted for those now covered
with baize, and outer glazed enclosures, with swing doors, added
to sliield the congregation from the draught. The font should
be taken down and refixed under the organ gallery, and the space
it now occupies fitted with pews. The pews in the nave and
aisles should be lowered 6 in., the seats within made a convenient
height and width, and the moulding on the seat side of the back
cut away. The floor should be taken up and laid with wood
blocks at the level of the stone and tile paving ; wood block
flooring might with advantage also be extended to the passages
and vestries. This decreasing of the pews about 9 in. in height
would add greatly to the apparent loftiness of the space under
the galleries. The various voids occasioned by the removal of
the enclosiU'e under the south gallery and of the pews at the
chancel end might, if found necessary, be made available for
the use of the congregation by the introduction of chairs or
movable seats.
" The chancel arrangements should be entirely remodelled by
bringing the present very beautiful communion rails, raised on
one step, in a line with the last piers northward, and by placing
new reading desks and stalls immediately in the rear. The
front stalls should be raised one step, and the reading desks and
RESTORATION OF ANCIENT CHURCHES 635
back stalls two steps from the general level of the chancel floor ;
the level of the latter steps being the same as that upon which
the old communion table would again stand.
" The pulpit should be new, less elevated than at present,
and ascended by steps winding round the base of the pier ; but
although new, both as to design and plan, most of the woodwork
of the old pulpit would be used.
" It is further proposed to increase both vestries to more than
twice their present area, and to enclose them by ornamental
and glazed screens of wood. By this alteration the chancel
would be properly enclosed, and would gain much in dignity,
while a light and bright appearance would be given to that por-
tion of the church. I should also propose to retain the existing
reredos, to raise it bodily about 18 in., to abolish the meagre
panels, and add a new architrave or framework at the sides of
the columns and under the entablature, to enrich the centre and
side divisions with appropriate and approved scriptural subjects
in mosaic,' and to gild and decorate the surrounding architectural
composition.
" With regard to the galleries, I would strongly urge that
they be retained, but I recommend that the fronts of those at
each side should be lowered about 18 in. and pierced the entire
length with a light open balustrade, that the floors should be
reconstructed and the pews altered, as described for those in
the body of the church, and the doors taken away.
" The gallery at the lower end, which I find has considerably
deflected, might with great advantage be reduced 6 ft. or more
in width, which would improve greatly the general appearance
of the interior ; the front should be lowered and treated in the
manner of those at each side, with a projecting bay added in the
centre for the organist's seat. Under this gallery should be fixed
the four columns that support the upper or children's galleries,
which I propose to demolish.
' These were omitted ; and the panels were painted in Bentley's favourite pale tone3
of Venetian red and greenish-blue.
636 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
" It would be only reasonable to remove the mural tablets
now on the bases of the shafts in front of the gallery to a more
suitable position : indeed it would be well that they, with the
other monuments in the church, should be made to take part in
the scheme suggested, should that idea be accepted.
" The ceiling at present is a blot on the interior, but by judi-
cious treatment it might be made ' a thing of beauty and a joy
for ever.' ' To this end I would suggest that broad moulded
beams, taking up with the caps of the shafts, should be run trans-
versely and longitudinally, and a line of modelled coffered panels
should be placed alongside the latter, leaving the space within for
surface decoration. At the junction of the wall and ceiling I
would further add a deep frieze in bold relief, consisting of foliage
festoons and shields, upon which appropriate heraldry might
be displayed, designed to harmonize with the circular window
heads that rise almost to the cornice line. Moulded architraves
should be run round most of the windows. The effect thus pro-
duced would be fine and novel, and, moreover, would transform
the whole appearance of the church.
" I would strongly urge that under no circumstances should
the construction of the roof be in any way tampered with nor
anything be done to mar or efface the original lines of the edifice.
" It will be necessary for the comfort of the congregation to
reglaze all the windows. I would, therefore, suggest that orna-
mental glazing, not too elaborate, embellished with borders and
occasional panels containing sacred subjects or figures, be sub-
stituted. The hoppers should be discarded, and ventilation
obtained from the sills of the windows, and elsewhere by means
of air flues, somewhat on the principle of the ' Tobin System ' ;
but all the iron-work, consisting of guard bars and frames, should
be retained.
" On examination I find that the heating apparatus is in a
very defective state, and I am afraid that nothing short of a new
arrangement would suffice. Coils distributed about the building,
1 Into such, indeed, he traneformed it. — W. de I'H.
■&r-3°TOLpHALl>gATE-
Plate CII. — S. Botolph's, Aldgate ; Chancel Seats and Screens of Oak.
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RESTORATION OF ANCIENT CHURCHES 637
utilizing the old materials as far as possible, are preferable and
would be more convenient and less unsightly than the continuous
pipes now in use.
" The existing gas fittings should be replaced by new ones of
iron, gilt, and of suitable design, pendants having the preference
where practicable.
" The scheme for the painting and decoration of the church
is one that still requires consideration, though it is clear that
generally it should be kept light with dark contrasts, so as to
produce luminous picturesque effects. Where illustration is con-
cerned it should bear special reference to the church and to the
parish. But the time placed at my disposal to prepare this
report was so very short that, at the moment, I am precluded
from entering into details of what I feel would be a most interesting
subject.
" Externally, the roof requires stripping and reslating, the
lead and stone work repairing, the wood and iron work painting,
and the east angle of the north wall carefully underpinning."
Bentley's suggestions meeting in most particulars with the
approval of the vicar and his committee, the interior alterations
and repairs were put in hand without delay.
His plan was, however, with his concurrence and approval,
modified in certain important details. The vestries for clergy
and choir, formerly placed on either side of the chancel and
that Bentley contemplated leaving in this position, were re-
moved bodily to the tower end, occupying the space formerly
allotted to the side lobbies. The tower entrance remains, there-
fore, the only one now available to the public. Two rooms for
storage and other purposes were constructed above each vestry.
The ornamental and glazed screens of wood were, however, in-
serted to enclose the chancel from the side aisles, as he proposed.
With regard to the reredos, Bentley's suggestion was adopted
in so far as structural alterations went, and vastly improved was
it by the new architrave mouldings and increased altitude. An
ornamental panel, with carved and gilded representations of
11—20
638 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
the Cross and Instruments of the Passion on the left, and the
Pillar of the Scourging on the right, was introduced on the empty
wall space over each of the lateral windows above the reredos.
Since it was not then possible to carry out the mosaic subjects sug-
gested for the centre and side divisions of the latter, it was painted,
as mentioned in a previous footnote. Recently, a somewhat
crude scheme of painted decoration with a general effect of blue,
embodying a Cross flanked by small figures of St. Botolph and
St. Catherine in the central panel, and an angel in each of the
lateral ones, has supplanted Bentley's idea ; it is the work, we
understand, of a student at Cass's Technical Institute.
The beautiful and spirited plaster-work of cornice and ceiling
is here illustrated (Plate CI) ; the heraldic shields, supported by
four-and-twenty winged standing figures, twelve on either side
between the gallery windows, are records of civic traditions, the
arms of the livery companies. The effect produced by this bold
yet delicate detail is one of striking originality. The ceilings
beneath the galleries are likewise enriched with applied ornament
in plaster, chiefly the acanthus leaf treated singly, as a square
patera. The ceilings, cornice, and frieze are kept white ; so too
are the gallery balustrades ; while the light colour scheme Bentley
advised is achieved by means of flat and pale greenish grey wall
surfaces, the Tuscan columns of the nave being painted a light
buff yellow, practically the tone of pale Siena marble. The dull
Venetian red employed on and around the reredos at one time
struck the requisite note of contrast and completed a satisfying
whole.
Several fine alabaster mural tablets of early seventeenth-
century date, notably those to Thomas, Lord d'Arcy and others
of his family, to Sir Edward d'Arcy and Robert Dowe, were moved,
to form part of this decorative scheme, from their unsatisfactory
positions on the bases of the gallery shafts. The more important
are fixed now on the wall between the windows of the gallery
level. They have all undergone thorough restoration and re-
moval of the paint, simulating alabaster, beneath which the genuine
RESTORATION OF ANCIENT CHURCHES 639
material was hidden. Bentley, examining the Dowc tablet one
day, divined the vandalism to which it had been subjected, and
quickly scraping away some paint with his penknife, revealed
the polished marble beneath.
Illustrated also (Plate CII) are details of the oaken chancel
screens erected to the memory of Albert Osliff Rutson, of Newley
Wiske, Northallerton; the churchwardens' pews; and the choir
seating accomplished between 1891 and 1893. The nave and gallery
seats consist of the ancient pewing lowered and remodelled as
suggested in the report. The chancel floor levels being altered,
as Bentley desired, it was laid with a pavement of marble mosaic,
continued down the aisles. Wood block flooring was laid beneath
the pews.
Of the pictorial glass contemplated in the report, there was
executed unhappily but one example, namely, the small window
at the " east " end of the " north " aisle. The subject is the
Annunciation; the donors were the children of the parish, in
memory of the Rev. Arthur Hanworth Exham, sometime curate
of St. Botolph's. It was designed by Bentley in 1893.
(b) St. Botolpli's, Bishopsgate
The old church of St. Botolph Without, Bishopsgate, another
of the three survivors under this dedication in the ancient City
of London, was among the fourteen chm-ches which escaped the
ravages of the Great f ire of 1666. This edifice of brick and stone
which stood, says Stow, "in a fair churchyard adjoining the town
ditch, upon the banks thereof," had become by the close of that
eventful century in so ruinous a condition that it was a source of
danger to the parishioners, who in 1725 were empowered by Act of
Parliament to build a new church at their own expense. They
employed James Gold, a little-known architect, who completed
the present church of classical design (opened in December 1728)
some time in 1729 at a cost of £10,400. Its most noticeable inter-
nal features are the colonnade of Corinthian columns, across which
the side galleries cut in the usual unsatisfactory and makeshift
640 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
fashion, and the lantern which sheds light over the nave, added in
1820 ; exteriorly it might attract attention on account of the
spire, curiously placed at the eastern end.
When the Rev. William Rogers " took corporal and spiritual
possession " ^ of the Bishopsgate benefice at the end of June
1863, he found the fabric of St. Botolph's Church, it would
seem, in the condition to which a century of spiritual torpor had
reduced many ecclesiastical buildings of the Establishment.
While, in a devoted incumbency of three-and-thirty years,
this man of powerful character and wide sympathies did
much to beautify their place of worship, he laboured in an
even greater degree for the general welfare of the parishioners
in his care — and had richly earned every syllable of the tribute
of affection and regret voiced by the vestry at his death on
January 19th, 1896, when, in a letter of sympathy addressed
to the relatives, they placed on record " their grateful apprecia-
tion of his unwearied labours for the spiritual and material wel-
fare of his parishioners, including those not of his communion;
their gratitude for his eminent and laborious services in the cause
of education and general philanthropy, in which he displayed
so broad and catholic a spirit ; their approval of his successful
exertions in restoring and beautifying the parish church ; their
feeling of affection and respect for him not only as the eclesiastical
head of the parish, but as the personal friend of those with whom
he was more immediately brought in contact."
In the above-mentioned Reminiscences, Rogers explains some-
thing of the secret of his success. "My rule in non-essentials has
always been to give way at once, and to give way graciously . . .
one must march with the times, and though I could not be a
Ritualist if I tried, I have never hesitated to adopt at the right
moment the most sensible and helpful features of the Ritualistic
movement." It will be readily accepted that to a mind of such
original and fearless cast, one so contemptuous of conventionality
' Reminiscences of Rev. W. Rogers. Compiled by R. H. Hadden, curate of the same.
(Kegan Paul, 1888.)
RESTORATION OF ANCIENT CHURCHES 641
and sham, Bentley's heart went out in complete understanding.
He was always successful as regards matters ecclesiological in
managing " Hang Theology Rogers " — the familiar sobriquet
was earned, it is said, through an impatient exclamation uttered
on being questioned about the religious teaching at the City of
London School.
Bentley used to enjoy re-telling the story of one of his victories
which in the light of Rogers's pronouncement on Ritualism has
a humorous quality of its own. They were together in St.
Botolph's one day, discussing chancel restorations and improve-
ments, when Bentley remarked, pointing to a box-like structure
on the altar table, " We must get rid of that, you know." Rogers
demurred, in fact, flatly refused. Bentley expostulated in vain,
till at length, losing patience, he turned on his heel with the
Parthian shot : " Well, if you imagine that is like a tabernacle, I
can assure you it is nothing of the sort." " Have your own
way," grumbled Rogers, and the box was removed without
further ado.
About the year 1887, Rogers in his Reminiscences was able to
congratulate the parishioners on the improvements carried out in
their church and its surroundings— the decaying and ill-kept
churchyard had been laid out as a garden in the face of violent
opposition directly he took up the incumbency — and to express
the hope that the church interior may continue as it is, even to
the primitive heating arrangements, " an honest fireplace in the
middle aisle." He had reckoned, however, without the steady and
insidious inroads of city atmospheric conditions on the outer stone-
work of the fabric, which two years later was found to be seriously
in need of immediate restoration. Bentley, probably introduced to
him by his former curate R. H. Hadden, then full of the architect's
successful restoration at St. Botolph's, Aldgate, was desired to
report on the exterior of the building without delay.
At a vestry meeting held on April 8th, 1890, the architect's
document dated the previous November came up for consideration,
and it was announced that the result of his survey was a recommen-
642 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
dation to arrest decay by spending £2,000 at once in absolutely
necessary external repairs. It was therefore resolved to levy a
church rate of 2d. in the £ for the ensuing quarter to produce a
portion of the required amount, and the churchwardens were desired
to take further advice before acting on Bentley's report. Ulti-
mately in July they reported that a contract for the external re-
pairs had been entered into for an approximate total of £1,900.
The work, carried out within the ensuing two years, involved
the replacing of all decayed stones in the spire and main building,
the formation of a new crypt entrance and the construction of
a south doorway. The latter is noteworthy on account of Bentley's
free and spirited treatment of the familiar classical mouldings,
especially the bead and reel enrichment. A screen porch, of
which more will be said later, was subsequently formed within the
south aisle. The total expenditure was £20 above the £2,000
originally requisitioned by the architect.
At a meeting held in June 1892, one of the churchwardens
reported that the interior of the church was much out of repair
and required immediate attention, and that the expense of so
doing would involve, according to Bentley's estimate, a sum of
about £2,000 (exclusive of a new heating apparatus also required).
The levy of another church rate was duly sanctioned, and the work
quickly put in hand.
Bentley's suggested improvements involved certain structural
alterations as well as a carefully considered scheme of decoration.
One of the main disabilities of the building seems to have
been the shallowness of the chancel, affording entirely inadequate
accommodation for ministers and choir. Bentley extended it
by enclosing one bay of the nave within open oak screens, the
spaces intervening between the rusticated supports of the side
galleries being filled in with gilt leaded glazing. For the choir
thus provided dignified and beautiful seats were made. Secondly,
he moved the organ from the east end of the north gallery ' to
the western gallery, adding new columns and beams to strengthen
' Tlie console has since been brought back to the east end of the south gallery.
RESTORATION OF ANCIENT CHURCHES G43
and widen this latter to adapt it to its new purpose and also alter-
ing the case and arranging the instrument in two parts on either
side of the great window. Convenient vestries were arranged
beneath this gallery at the aisle extremities.
Thirdly, the font was removed from its inconvenient central
position to an enclosure at the west end of the north aisle, and
encompassed by low railings of wood. He also repaved the entire
church with marble. Finally, screen porches or lobbies were
added to the south and north-east aisle entrances, the latter
having the upper panels of its inner double doors glazed with
delicately painted white glass,' showing beribboned garlands
of fruit in the lateral, and the entwined letters S. B. in the centre
quarries. Both oaken porches reveal the same delicately simple
details, reeded pilasters, moulded caps, bases, frieze and cornice
treated with the utmost reticence.
So much briefly for the structural improvements. Bentley
also devised a scheme of embellishment calculated to produce an
effect of lightness and dignity in the interior. The great shafts
of the nave rising from tall wooden pedestals were painted in
the lightest possible tone of creamy green, their Composite caps
being partially gilt and their bases bronzed. The plastered walls
of aisles and galleries above the old oaken panelling which at-
tained to the level of the windowsills were painted white, the
character of these window openings being emphasized and vastly
improved by an ingeniously planned coloured decoration. The
weak appearance of the aisle window arches, which are carried
right up to the gallery floor, is rectified by the pinkish-red rect-
angle painted so as to enclose each window arch ; its upper corners
are occupied by interlacing ribbons supporting depending laurel
garlands, in tones of palest green and white. The red is carried
into the reveals. The reveals of the gallery windows are coloured
a pale blue, slenderly outlined with ribbon spirals.
The somewhat elaborately coffered and moulded ceiling is
kept as restrained as possible by a judicious and sparing use of
* The only glass by Bentley in this church.
644 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
gilding on the enrichments ; the panels are painted palest blue.
The lantern, which sheds a flood of light upon the nave, has a
greyish-green roof, sown with golden stars. Its four spandrels
contain fine full-length paintings of the prophets Daniel, Jeremiah,
Isaiah, and Ezekiel, executed by the late W. Christian Symons.
The cornice at the base of the drum is emphasized by the introduc-
tion of deep blue into certain of the mouldings. The old glazing
which Bentley did not touch has recently been altered by his son,
who has substituted therefor effective greenish roundels and
Norman slabs. It should be observed that at the same time
the church has been entirely repainted under his supervision and
renovated with faithful adherence to his father's scheme.
Bentley found that the east end was lighted by a stained glass
window of crude effect and had a mosaic panel behind the com-
munion table, both of which had to be reckoned with in designing
the chancel decorations. He therefore added on north and south
walls a marble dado of fine cipollino slabs, chosen with special
care for their vertical figuring, and divided by narrow bands of
a darker green serpentine. The chancel floor is a beautiful com-
bination of low-toned marbles, yellow (jaune Lamartine), Sicilian
white, black and fawn-coloured Verona. The choir portion
includes a grey fossil variety, while the nave is paved with rect-
angles of black and white. The predella paving, a recent addition
by Osmond Bentley, is carried out in Turkish red marble sur-
rounded by pale Siena. Above the dado the plastered walls
are painted a warm-toned white, the chancel arch, frieze and other
points of articulation being emphasized by treatment with blackish-
blue on which is painted conventional foliation in light tones.
When the decoration was restored in 1912, Osmond Bentley
added as decorative motives the Instruments of the Passion painted
in the panels on the reveals and frame of the east window, and
considerably enhanced the harmony of the M'hole scheme by sub-
stituting a greenish-blue glass for the crude clear blue of the
window that sounded so jarring a note.
The two beautiful classical tablets painted high up on the
RESTORATION OF ANCIENT CHURCHES 645
inner sides of the chancel responds will attract notice ; on their
ground-work of dark blue golden texts have recently been added ;
a pinkish-red ribbon upholds the surmounting laurel swag and its
long graceful lateral garlands. Above the eipollino dado, on the
white expanse of wall, are fixed the exquisitely dignified Clapham
memorials, erected by a widow in memory of her husband, a
pair of opus sectile panels enclosed within broad golden frames.
That on the south side represents the Agony in the Garden ;
that on the north the Disciples going to Emmaus. We believe
it will be conceded that, in solemn beauty of treatment and
colouring, Bentley himself never surpassed these panels, which
deserve therefore to rank among the best of his designs for this
enduring method of decoration.
In the base of each frame is placed a dark red marble tablet
whereon letters of gold perpetuate the memory of one from whom
St. Botolph's received long and devoted service :
TO THE GLORY OF GOD AND IN MEMORY OF ALFRED
HENRY CLAPHAM, FOR THIRTY-FOUR YEARS
VESTRY CLERK OF THE PARISH OF ST. BOTOLPH,
BISHOPSGATE, THIS MONUMENT IS ERECTED.
BORN AT HOO HALL, RIVENHALL, IN THE COUNTY
OF ESSEX, XXVIII OF NOVEMBER MDCCCXXXI.
DIED AT THURLBY, WOODFORD BRIDGE, IN THE
SAME COUNTY, VII MAY MDCCCXCII.
The choir is divided from the chancel by oak communion
rails, a balustrade of elegant Ionic columns carrying a moulded rail.
Bentley's original design, far more elaborate and costly, was, on
account of these qualities, not accepted. In Plate ClII is
reproduced the inch-scale drawing of the choir screens and seats,
already mentioned. The stalls for the clergy were presented by
Mary Anne Bush in memory of her husband, William John Bush,
C.C, in 1894.
An exquisite gem of design and wood craftsmanship is the
646 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
lectern, the gift of Baron de Bush, in memory of the same WilHam
John Bush, his father, connected for over forty years with this
parish. This graceful piece of ecclesiastical furniture might indeed
be a legacy from the glowing days of Italian cinquecento design.
Its four scrolled feet are drawn up into acanthus leaves lightly
laid upon the square lower section of the shaft, on whose central
cuplike projection are seated four nude cherubs, each in baby
hands holding a disc carved with an evangelic symbol. The
panelled book-rests are adorned with beribboned swags curving
beneath a bas-relief of an open book ; the small end panels have
ribbon work in relief, while the whole is surmounted by two
wingless cherubs partly recumbent and inclined one towards
the other.
The old, ugly, and cumbersome seating in the nave and galleries
was also replaced by benches of elegant design, with very low
panelled backs and ends terminating in laurel wreaths taking a
downward curve. The westernmost seats of the nave, more
elaborate in detail, are set apart for the churchwardens and are
surmounted by high screens glazed and having gilt leadwork like
those of the choir. The old oak pulpit was retained, undergoing
merely, as regards its staircase, certain slight alterations.
It has earlier been remarked that the antiquated attempt at
heating the church was to be replaced by a modern scientific
system ; this was carried out under Bentley's direction between
1892-4 at a cost of £193. Electric light was at the same time
installed throughout the building, Bentley designing some very
beautiful standards and pendants in gilt wrought iron wliich
all partake of that marvellous flame-like lightness — or rather
appearance of lightness — characteristic of the metalwork pro-
duced at this period of the zenith of his power as a designer.
The chancel possesses a pair of five-light brackets composed of ex-
quisitely twisted ribbon-work and stems united in a pomegranate
form terminating in a flame-like point. Five flower-like lights
curve outwards from a similar centre.
Single-light brackets are affixed to the cornice of the choir
RESTORATION OF ANCIENT CHURCHES 647
screen, while the nave receives illumination from pendants of four
lights borne by twisted interlaced stems, dependent from the
lower edge of the gallery parapet. Standards, carrying similar
pendants, arise from the top moulding of this parapet, one to
each bay, and the galleries receive further light from wall brackets,
placed there since Bentley's day. The two handsome electric
light standards recently made for the chancel by his son are an
adaptation of the design already described.
The completion of the restoration and embellishment is duly
recorded in a tablet painted on the panelling which forms the
clergy vestry enclosure beneath the western gallery. This re-
fined little piece of work will be found on the left side, a white
gilt-edged tablet upheld by golden cords, beneath a painted niche ;
lateral cords support swags of pears, grapes, and pomegranates,
represented in delicate hues. A similar tablet has now been painted
on the right side, on the screen of the choir vestry, to record the
restoration of the church and re-building of the organ in 1912,
during the rectorship of the Rev. W. Hudson Shaw, M.A.
" Hang Theology " Rogers died in 1896, and Bentley was
commissioned to design his memorial. He himself had been
grievously near to death while the restoration was in hand three
years earlier ; and while suffering from the intolerable weakness
produced by a severe attack of peritonitis, had dragged himself
painfully from his sick bed to inspect work at the church, long
ere convalescence justified the effort.
The Rogers memorial is affixed to the wall of the north aisle,
between the windows, and as a specimen of the correct and clever
sculptural treatment of marbles, it is worthy of close examination :
furthermore the head sculptured in bas-relief is an excellent
portrait. A polished and moulded tablet of cipollino, whose fine
markings have been utilized to the best advantage, forms the
background to the unpolished white marble inscription tablet.
The cipollino veining, vertical in its lower part, is horizontally
placed to form the curved pediment whereon is affixed a bay- '
enwreathed sunk plaque (half its circumference projects above
648 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
the pediment) wherein the head of Rogers is sculptured in
extremely low relief. The fine epitaph, cut in black lettering,
reads as follows :
IN MEMORY OF
THE REVEREND WILLIAM ROGERS, M.A.
BORN 24 NOVEMBER 1819, DIED 19 JANUARY 1896
CHAPLAIN IN ORDINARY TO THE QUEEN
PREBENDARY OF ST. PAUL'S
AND FOR THIRTY-THREE YEARS RECTOR OF THIS PARISH
OF LARGE SYMPATHIES AND INDEPENDENT MIND
A LEADER IN ALL GOOD WORK FOR THE PEOPLE OF LONDON
MORE ESPECIALLY IN THE CAUSE OF EDUCATION
SINGULARLY LOVED AND TRUSTED
BY FRIENDS IN ALL CLASSES OF THE COMMUNITY
THIS TABLET TO HIS MEMORY HAS BEEN ERECTED
BY SEVERAL OF THESE HEADED BY THE PRINCE OF WALES
The modern system of heating installed in 1893 was followed
the next year by a scientific ventilating apparatus costing £94.
Beyond these two items the expenditure on the interior from
1893-6 totalled £3,765, a sum greatly in excess of the original
estimate owing to the fact that certain serious defects not on
a first examination apparent had become visible after the work
of restoration was begun.
(c) Holy Trinity, Minories
Bentley's connection with this church was so slender that it,
scarcely calls for mention and, indeed, would not have found a.
place in this chapter but for the erroneous assertion ^ that he wasL.
responsible for its restoration. Moreover, an entry in his diary
for the years 1893-4 also led the writer to believe that such
was the fact. It required, however, but a very slight examinatioi^.
» Memoir by the late T. J. Willson, Journal R.I.B.A., July 1902.
I
RESTORATION OF ANCIENT CHURCHES 649
of the fabric to satisfy oneself that no traces of Bentley's handling
are to be found in this, " the ugliest and meanest of all modern
London churches." ' Further, the Rev. Mr. Tomlinson, incumbent
of Holy Trinity till 1889, in a History of the Minories, published in
1907, distinctly states that the church underwent reparation for
the last time in 1877. His successor, Dr. Samuel Kinns, resigned
the living in 1899, and Holy Trinity, Minories, ceased to exist as
a separate benefice, becoming thereafter merged in that of St.
Botolph, Aldgate. The church, no longer needed as a place
of worship, was closed for a time, and subsequently, roughly
adapted interiorly to its new purpose, was opened as the Parish
Institute in 1901.
An entry in Bentley's diary of a fairly substantial fee paid to
him in the above-mentioned year (1894) on account of Holy Trinity,
Minories, leads one, in the absence of any drawings or corre-
spondence, to suppose that Dr. Kinns called him in to make a
survey of the church and report on its condition, but that none
of his recommendations were carried into effect. This may well
have been due to a feeling that the independent days of the little
church's existence were numbered ; for the civil parish of the
Minories was merged into the south ward of Whitechapel some
twelve months later, in 1895.
St. Etheldreda's, Ely Place, Holborn
Ely Chapel, Holborn, the sole remaining relic of the mediaeval
palace of the Bishops of Ely in London, after serving for a space
in the last century as a Quaker meeting-house, was purchased
by the Catholic community and re-opened as St. Etheldreda's
in 1876, It possesses a curious interest as being the sole pre-
Reformation Church in the metropolis in the occupation of the
Catholic body.
Bentley's connection with it dated from 1894, when he was
desired to make designs for a high altar — a fine specimen with
carved wooden reredos and subjects painted and gilt on the frontal
' Besant'a London, p. 108.
650 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
panels — a communion rail and some chancel seats, none of which
ever materialized. Five years later he was again approached and
consented to make a survey with a view to certain works of
restoration. He then designed the sumptuous oaken screen with
wrought iron grilles and gates (see Plate CIV) placed at the
west end of the nave, with the lateral confessionals and organ-case
above, which form an integral feature of this effective piece of
work. The heraldic shields on the frieze are blazoned with
various coats of arms, among them those appertaining to the
family of Mr. Edward Bellasis, Lancaster Herald, to whose gener-
osity the church is indebted for this contribution to its beauty
and interest.
St. Mark^s, North Audley Street
Bentley's staunch friend and admirer, the late Rev. R. H.
Hadden, was transferred from St. Botolph's, Aldgate, to this
Mayfair parish in 1899. He immediately consvilted the architect
concerning certain improvements desirable in his new cure. St.
Mark's hardly comes within the category of " Ancient " churches ;
a pseudo-classical preaching conventicle of the type approved at
that period, it was built by Gandy-Deening between 1820-30 and
had been remodelled interiorly, in 1878, by the late Sir Arthur
Blomfield, into a sort of Auvergnat-Romanesque.
The new incumbent found the church too dark ; Bentley
therefore provided increased illumination in the only manner
possible, viz. by cutting skylights in the roof. Two of these
square openings, containing each a circular leaded light, shed
light on the nave ; a third does the same for the chancel.
The second complaint concerned the bareness of the lowermost
stage of the eastern apse, where beneath the painted reredos, and
on either side of it, the bare walls were masked by curtains. The
paintings in this reredos were the work of Mr. N. H. J. Westlake ;
while the stained glass in the window above came from the firm of
which he was a member.
Bentley chose a mellow-tinted cipollino marble, and with
'Plate CIV. — S. Etheldeeda's, Ely Place, Holboen : Sceees and Ougax Case at West Emd.
C60]
RESTORATION OF ANCIENT CHURCHES 651
vertical slabs of this encrusted the chancel walls up to the lower
level of the reredos. The slabs are divided and emphasized by
narrow bands of verde antico. A plain cornice of yellowish-pink
marble crowns this dado. Above it, at the responds of the east
wall, are carried up plain pilasters of white marble, terminating
in a pediment, and inlaid with panels of a warm orange-toned
breccia, outlined with narrow banding of mosaic in gold and
lapis lazuli or pearl. The return walls of the chancel and its
piers between the dado and the level of the springing are sheeted
with cipollino of bolder figure and clearer tone. North and south
an oblong panel of the orange breccia is inset beneath a star-
shaped one of verde antico. The general effect is dignified and
mellow.
The floor of chancel and nave were also laid with black and
white marble, arranged alternately in large rectangles. Extern-
nally Bentley had the church repainted and the facade and roof
carefully repaired and rendered weather-proof. The alabaster
mural tablet to Mr. Hadden, who died in 1909, placed on the east
wall of the south aisle, is from the design of Mr. J. A. Marshall,
then a member of the Bentley firm.
Paeish Church of Bolney, Sussex
The foundations of the Parish Church of Bolney, near Hay-
ward's Heath, were laid in Saxon days, and portions of the existing
fabric still bear testimony to the enduring workmanship of Saxon
masons. There are two well-preserved small windows in the
chancel, and a good archway at the porch. Unhappily the ancient
church has had much to suffer from ignorant and careless hands
in bygone years. The fourteenth-century square tower, built
of stone with imposing solidity having regard to the size of the
church, is placed at the west end and surmounted by four small
corner turrets.
The building was sadly in need of intelligent restoration when
in 1899 Bentley was asked to take it in hand. About £1,400
652 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
had already been subscribed for the purpose, chiefly by three
generous donors, one of whom was the late Mr. Henry Courage of
Bolney, through whom, naturally, the choice of Bentley as architect
came about. Exteriorly the restoration included the re-roofing
of the nave with the old heavy Horsham slabs after its timbers
had been thoroughly strengthened to receive their weight. The
tower also was thoroughly repaired without and within, and the
ringers' gallery was removed so that the bells are now manipulated
from the floor of the church.
As regards the interior, Bentley decided to remove the gallery
at the west end and completely to re-roof the nave. He laid
down new floors in nave and chancel, and replaced the existing
heating arrangements with an effective hot-water service.
In spite of his rooted objection to the employment of pitch
pine, the new woodwork at Bolney, owing to insufficiency of funds,
had perforce to be carried out in this inferior material.
In restoring the plaster-work of the walls, certain ancient
frescoes, which might have been saved had the work of restoration
been begun earlier, were found to have gone beyond hope of re-
demption, and were therefore covered again with a coating of
colour wash.
CHAPTER XXVI
MIDDLE AND LATER LIFE
Bentley takes lease of 13, John Street — Death of his mother — Courtship and marriage —
Dismay of bachelor friends — Major Yarde — The old house at Clapham — Furniture
designing — Taste for Oriental porcelain and Venetian glass — Exercise of hospitality
— Death of a loved child— Christmas festivities — Encouragement of children's
tastes for reading and drawing — Devotion to Sir Thomas Mora's memory — Care-
lessness of dress and personal appearance — Reticence and other salient traits of
character — Literary gifts — Assistants and pupils — Improved financial position from
1873 — Founding of Guild of SS. Gregory and Luke — Bentley's connection therewith
— Discussions on the Christian altar — Discouragement and resignation from the
Guild — Bentley's attitude to art institutions — Royal Gold Medal — Bentley as
clubman— He buys the freehold of 3, The Sweep — Moves there from 43, Old Town
— Travels — Receives commission to build Westminster Cathedral— Sojourn in Italy
— Death of old friends, Mr. and Mrs. Montefiore and Mr. Purdue — Brooklyn Cathedral
and visit to United States — Ill-health— First paralytic seizure — Visit of R.I.B.A.
to Westminster Cathedral— Second seizure — Slow convalescence in the country —
Strenuous work in 1901 — Last days and letters — Third seizure and death — Funeral
ceremonies — Monument and memorials — Valediction by Cardinal Vaughan.
For close on thirty-four years, that is from July 1868 until
his death in March 1902, Bentley occupied rooms in the dignified
house built as part of their grand scheme by the Adam brothers,
No. 13, John Street, Adelphi, During the first six years the top
floor suite sufficed for both chambers and office ; but in the
summer of the latter year, better accommodation becoming neces-
sary, he took a twenty-one years' lease of the entire house -with the
intention of reserving the first floor to himself as an office and sub-
letting the remainder, an arrangement which in practice worked
remarkably well. Mrs. Cleverly, the widow of the Doncaster clerk
of works whom Bentley as a boy had assisted when St. George's
was re-building, had come to London several years previously to
act as housekeeper to " Master Johnnie." While the John Street
11—21 653
654 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
house was undergoing the repair necessary before Bentley could
enter upon his tenancy, he moved into a temporary office close
by, and in company with his friend Tom Willson took up living
quarters at Hampstead, by way of escape from the dust and heat
of the city in July. A small step, as it seemed, and yet one that
proved to be big with fate.
Bentley had just passed through the deep waters of affliction, for
he was mourning the loss, after a cruelly brief warning, of the
mother to whom he had been more than ordinarily attached. The
news of her serious illness reached him on January 25th ; he
rushed north immediately, as his diary chronicles, to see " dearest
mother for the last time " on January 27th. Probably even then
not aware of the gravity of her condition, he returned to London
at the urgent call of business, to be acquainted by telegram that
she had passed away on January 31st, the day after his own
birthday. It was a deep and abiding sorrow ; for the withdrawal
of the sympathetic and affectionate insight of one who had re-
joiced in his every step upon the ladder of success must have
left a sad blank in her son's life and made her sorely missed.
Perhaps the soul-loneliness of the bereaved son turned his thoughts
more readily towards marriage and domestic joys.
At the age of thirty-five Bentley's friends had come to regard
him as hopelessly confirmed in bachelorhood. His early excur-
sions into the " pays du tendre " had been few, it would seem, and,
with perhaps one exception, not deep experiences, referred to with
characteristic brevity in the habitually kept diary. Although he
kept up this diurnal record in fragmentary and incomplete fashion
during forty years, there is not much to be discovered therein in
the way of self-revelation or of the personal element — more, of
course, when he was younger and less occupied ; but in later life
the annual volume becomes solely a business document, yielding
little beyond memoranda of professional appointments and lists
of the work accomplished each year — meagre fleshless material,
tantalizing to the biographer as dry bones divested of the warm
pulsing human flesh and muscle. It was perhaps hardly to be
MIDDLE AND LATER LIFE 655
expected that one so habitually reserved should commit his inmost
thoughts even to the pages of his diary.
One is not surprised, therefore, to find that two words suffice
to register that momentous first meeting with the girl whose
youth and beauty had charmed and enslaved him at sight.
Miss Margaret Fleuss was the youngest daughter of the late
Henry J. Fleuss of Diisseldorf, who, unfettered by family ties
(he was an only child, the son of a French mother and bereft
of his father when quite young), had settled in England some
time in the "thirties of the last century, at the instance of one
of the Jocelyn family. The Irishman had met Henry Fleuss in
Germany and, admiring the handsome debonair young soldier-
artist, had persuaded him to seek his fortune in England. Little
persuasion was needed, for Fleuss then was curiously English in his
ideas and tastes, and indeed was generally known by the sobriquet
of the " Englishman." He came and stayed for a while with the
Rodens in Ireland. After his marriage he lived at different
periods in Wiltshire and at Kingston-on-Thames, and finally settled
in London.
Maggie Fleuss was at Hampstead staying for a few days with
the late Mr. and Mrs. John Henry Metcalfe, at whose house the
friends Bentley and Willson (in retreat in this healthy suburb,
since they were both too busy to take a holiday out of London)
met her on July 20th. It was characteristic of Bentley to make
instant decisions ; and in this matter he certainly let no grass grow
beneath his feet. The proposal of marriage was made during an
early morning walk on Hampstead Heath about a fortnight later,
and accepted the next day. Bentley at once wrote to obtain
her parents' consent, for Mr. Fleuss was then away from home,
on a visit to the monks of Charnwood Abbey, Leicester. Mr.
Everard Green, another friend of Bentley's, was a fellow-guest
at the monastery, and hastened to be first to convey to him the
good news that Mr. Fleuss's consent to the union was obtained and
that his letter would follow.
Miss Fleuss's acceptance of Bentley's suit involved her willing-
656 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
ness to leave the Church of England in which she had been brought
up, and to become before marriage a member of her future hus-
band's faith. He therefore confided his fiancee to the care of his
very good friends the Franciscan nuns at Bayswater, in whose
convent she was, after suitable preparation, received into the
Catholic Church and confirmed by Cardinal Manning on Sep-
tember 8th.
Bentley was fourteen years older than his bride-elect, who
looked, moreover, so much younger than her age that he had to
submit to some criticism on the subject. One friend exclaimed on
meeting her, " Why, Bentley, you have married a pretty child ! "
Still, there seemed to be no reason for a long engagement, and he
was all impatient for the consummation of his happiness, so the
marriage was arranged to take place on October 6th at the Church
of St. Peter and St. Edward, Palace Street, Westminster. Father
Kirk, an Oblate friend of many years, performed the ceremony and
the " best man " was Mr. Everard Green. Bentley, characteristic-
ally absent-minded, appeared at the altar in odd shoes, one of
glace kid, the other of patent leather ; and the unfortunate best
man came in for a good deal of chaffing, then and after, for not
taking better care of the bridegroom's appearance.
After a brief honeymoon in the Isle of Wight (Bentley was
then too busy to go abroad as preference would have guided him),
they settled down in furnished rooms in Clapham, in order to
search at leisure for a suitable abode.
The astonishment and well-nigh comic dismay of his bachelor
friends at this electrifyingly sudden defection of the most re-
liable of the band were expressed in numerous letters of con-
gratulation directly the engagement became known. Their
bewilderment was completed by the news of the marriage following
so close upon its heels. Major Frederick Yard voiced the general
sentiment when he wrote : " And so, my dear fellow, you've
left our ranks and gone in for matrimony. Westlake broke the
startling news to me over some sherry ! and I was very thankful
to receive it under such circumstances, as I was better able to
MIDDLE AND LATER LIFE 657
bear it by helping him to finish the decanter. Since then I have
been trying in every way I possibly can to realize the fact ! "
This he very soon achieved by becoming godfather to Bentley's
first child and a frequent and welcome visitor to the Clapham
home. Saturday night was his customary time, when he would
rise as regularly as clockwork when the port was put on the table
to call for the old mess toast : " Saturday night, Bentley ! Sweet-
hearts and wives ! " The good old Major never married, and the
Bentley family saw little of him after he went to live quietly at
Winchester with his sister ; where he predeceased Bentley (who
was a good deal his junior) by about a dozen years.
In the " Old Town," Clapham, one of the few surviving
picturesque spots in what not so long since was a rural neighbour-
hood, still redolent of the solid virtues of that respectable set in
which Macaulay shone, stands a terrace of three old houses,
whose external details and panelled walls within proclaim their
origin in the reign of Queen Anne. Their architect was no less
a personage than Sir Christopher Wren. Bentley discovered,
to his immense delight, that the best of the three (since it had
suffered least from Victorian vandalism) would shortly be empty,
and hastened to secure the lease of so desirable a dwelling. That
it proved to be in a sad state of decay was no deterrent. The
furnished rooms in Belmont Road were so comfortable that the
newly married pair had no objection to staying on there while the
house underwent thorough repair. It was overhauled therefore
from basement to attic ; the panelling was stripped of disguising
wallpapers and accumulations of paint ; the drawing-room
improved by an extension and window-bay on the garden side ;
a new side entrance was added ; and the fine wrought-iron railings
and gate that enclosed the paved forecourt taken down and put
in thorough repair. Bentley was making a good income, and
spared neither expense nor trouble to make his home beautiful.
The twenty-one years' lease was signed in January 1876 ; and
the installation of the little family of three took place a few months
later. Mr. Everard Green's suggestion that Bentley should
658 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
introduce a house motto into the decoration recalls the story of
the architect's meeting with Tennyson at the house of a common
friend. The poet appeared to be considerably attracted by the
former's appearance and conversation, and after Bentley's de-
parture gave, it is said, punning and rather blasphemous expres-
sion to his feeling, remarking, " Bent knee for God, Bentley for
me ! " Mr. Green remembered the epigram, and submitted it
among others as a suitable motto for " The New Hive " of the B's !
Bentley designed his own dining-room furniture, a very hand-
some set in waxed oak, rather light in tone, and in style Flemish
of the early seventeenth-century. An appropriate motto carved
across the back of the sideboard enjoined family and friends to
" Be Merry and Wise." Its cupboard door panels displayed the
eagle, emblem of the husband's patron saint, on the right, and a
pot of marguerites, the wife's name flower, on the left, with their
initials J. and M. linked by a cord on the stile between. The
symbolic flower appeared again carved on the tops of the finely
proportioned chairs, whose square seats and backs were stuffed
and covered with pigskin. In drawing-room and bed-chambers
were disposed a number of good Hepplewhite chairs that Bentley
had picked up in fragments and for a mere song in an adjoining
secondhand dealer's shop. He had acquired some pictures and
quite a quantity of good old blue and white Oriental china during
bachelor days, and now gave rein to his passion for Venetian glass,
using it always for the daily service of the table. Cut glass he
detested, and never had a piece in the house.
The dining-table was planned on an hospitable scale, for he
possessed this virtue of the North Country in a marked degree.
The ideal of keeping open house and table for friends was never
forsaken, though the cares of a large and fast increasing family
rendered it every year less possible in practice. Eleven children —
four sons and seven daughters— were born to him, of whom two,
a boy and a girl, died in early childhood. The loss of the beloved
little second son, Wilfred, at the age of eighteen months on
April 7th, 1883, was a poignant grief from which the father very
MIDDLE AND LATER LIFE 659
slowly recovered. One of the writer's most vivid recollections of
childhood is that of a darkened house and a heart-broken father.
Bentley was deeply attached to all his children, who in return
adored him ; for although he never took much part in their
games, he was an admirable raconteur and thoroughly understood
the childish mind, especially its love of thrills.
The observance of Christmas was always entered into with
whole-hearted delight ; and until the sons and daughters were of
an age to take over the pleasant duty, he used with his own hands
to make beautiful wreaths and garlands with evergreens and
little oranges in the old Yorkshire fashion wherewith to deck
the house at the festive season ; while the visits of Santa Claus
on Christmas eve and Father Christmas on the afternoon of the
festal day were expected by the children as a matter of course.
Some friend of the family, effectively disguised in long white
beard and the cowl and habit of a Franciscan friar, would im-
personate the latter with his sack of toys. Bentley never con-
sidered any trouble too great to make Christmas a time happy
and memorable as well to those without the home circle as to
those within. Poor aged pensioners came for their Christmas
dinner ; others for gifts of sweets and cakes for their children,
and the spirit of the Christmas of Dickens and of Peter Parley's
day was shed over all.
He was ever ready to foster any sign of childish talent as re-
gards tastes for reading and drawing ; Randolph Caldecott's
books were set as the chief model for little copyists — he had great
admiration for the humour and the clean line of this draughtsman's
clever work ; Kate Greenaway's and Walter Crane's illustrations
were likewise put encouragingly into their hands. Bentley
loved books himself and taught his children to use all books with
reverence. The reading of fiction was never greatly approved,
Thackeray even being looked upon as too advanced, and forbidden
until adult years were reached ; but works of historical research,
such for example as Dom Gasquet's and Father Bridgett's, were
commended ; so too was Cardinal Wiseman's Fabiola, and Bentley's
660 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
favourite book of all, The Household of Sir Thomas More, written
by Anne Manning early in the nineteenth century. He had a
passion of reverence for this great man, and when he first read
this diary supposed to have been kept by his daughter, so charmed
was he that he bought up all the copies available to present to
friends. His own was lent on one occasion to a certain priest
who after perusing it did not share Bentley's enthusiasm. His
objection was based on the fact of the book pretending to be
what it was not, i.e. Margaret Roper's own diary. Bentley
could not then agree with the clerical critic, but in course of time
came, it is said, to think that he was right.
The youthful period of dandyism mentioned in an earlier
chapter was of short duration, and when Bentley married his
dress was characterized by extreme carelessness and untidiness.
The " lion mane " was worn rather long and always standing on
end. After marriage he was induced to keep it in better order
and to submit to the wearing of gloves ; certainly there is a distinct
difference in the photographs taken just before and after this
epoch. Of course no one who knew Bentley could picture him
with hair closely cut and smoothly brushed ; indeed he cordially
detested that fashion and said that modern men seemed to aim
at the appearance of convicts. His usual habit was a tall hat and
black frock coat. In later years he took more to the wearing of
short coats and lounge suits, invariably dark grey. But he was
never seen in a bowler hat or cap ; and between a round straw
hat for country wear, and a tall hat in London, there was no
other choice of headgear for him beyond perhaps the very occa-
sional adoption of a soft felt for travelling. A touch of light
colour in ties was permitted ; he preferred soft scarves of Liberty
silk in dull pink and blue, run through a cameo- mounted gold
ring.
Although few could be more absolutely charming in home
relations, Bentley seldom deviated from that habitual reticence
observed with regard to all business affairs. Indeed it was but
rarely that his tongue would be unloosed on such matters to
MIDDLE AND LATER LIFE 661
certain very old and intimate friends, and members of the family
would observe that it was only when present on these rare and
precious occasions that they had the opportunity of learning
anything of the professional side of his life.'
There is no doubt that Bentley was difficult to know, and
although an entertaining and brilliant conversationalist when he
chose, he spoke very little without encouragement. Were the
incentive forthcoming, he would discourse intimately of things in
the abstract ; but he was very sensitive and of his own person-
ality or interests could scarcely ever be persuaded to speak.
He was very patient with unclever people and extremely lenient
to those who showed interest in the things he himself cared for.
The sterling Yorkshire temperament that hated humbug and cant
and chastised them with severe and stinging phrases was quick to
recognize the virtues of simplicity and sincerity in others and to
expand to their possessors with all the charm and geniality with
which nature had dowered him. A quiet manner indicated the
calm and even temper of the man ; he was ever alert and cheerful
and little subject to the black fits of depression that had tor-
mented his earlier years. A vigorous and glowing faith was
among the most striking of all his spiritual qualities. On the
negative side of his mentality an absolute lack of conceit and
absence of self-interest were the prime factors to strike one. To
take a small but telling example : when Cardinal Vaughan used
Westminster Cathedral Hall for the first time (on the occasion of
one of his afternoon receptions, which was distinctly an oppor-
tunity for acclamation of the architect), Bentley crept in quietly
and hurriedly through a side door at the rear of the assembled
company.
His judgments on art and style were tempered by a critical
but kindly humour. A gift of literary expression was certainly
his to no small degree, although it was rarely utilized. In a life so
actively employed there was neither time nor inclination to rush
into print ; but in such few and brief writings that remain there
1 This trait has rendered doubly difficult the compilation of this biography.
662 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
will be discovered a pleasant literary flavour. Verse-making may
have been indulged in a little, perhaps as a solace in those dark
morbid hours of depression already spoken of ; a sheet of couplets,
penned apparently in such a moment of sadness, is, however,
it must be admitted, our only tangible warrant for the assumption.
The others, if others there were, have not escaped destruction.
Bentley, after a year or two in the John Street office, felt the
need of permanent assistance and took a ciierk from whom he
expected hard work and concentration equivalent to his own.
Never at the busiest did his office staff exceed three, among whom
it was a matter of custom and honour never to take the luncheon
hour off, without which the modern young man on a high stool
would think himself hardly used indeed. Bentley snatched slight
refreshment as he was able ; his assistants brought theirs daily in
their pockets, and worked incessantly from ten to six. Their
employer made a point of never arriving at the office till something
after ten, so that the assistants should feel that their punctuality
was a matter of honour left to their own sense of duty. Foremost
among these assistants, from the length of his connection and the
confidence reposed in him, ranked Mr. John A. Marshall, on whom,
in collaboration with Bentley 's son, devolved the carrying on of his
practice for ten years after his chief's untimely removal by death.
The architect was averse to taking pupils, and as a rule refused
to do so for the conscientious reason that he felt unable to devote
to them adequate personal supervision. To this rule there were,
however, two special exceptions. Mr. Leonard Montefiore, younger
son of his old friend, for a short time in 1879 occupied a stool at
13, John Street. His health, always indifferent, suddenly gave
way wholly, and within a short space of time consumption claimed
him as a victim. Bentley insisted on returning the premium
paid when the unfortunate young man's articles were signed,
and later designed his tombstone in Streatham Churchyard.
The other articled pupil, Mr. Frank St. Aubyn, nephew of the
Gothic architect of that name, was accepted by Bentley in January
1875, through Father Rawes's special intermediation and request,
MIDDLE AND LATER LIFE 663
and duly served the three years' indentures. The following
undated letter that clinched the matter is characteristic of Father
Rawes and seems to merit rescue from oblivion :
" Dear Bentley,
" I will send Mrs. St. Aubyn and Frank to you to-morrow
afternoon between three and four. If you should be obliged to
be out, you could leave word if they should wait, or when you can
see them. I told them you would take him for £300. I said
nothing of guineas. I detest them. I dislike them charging
guineas for the seats here ; and will stop it if ever I can.
" They are very glad to pay you the money, as they are very
anxious for him to be with you, not only because of your great
skill and knowledge of your art, but also because of your loyalty
to the Church. They would rather pay you what you ask than
pay either of the others (whom you mention) £50.
" Frank himself would not go anywhere else till he had tried
all he could to be with you.
" Yours sincerely,
"H. A. Rawes."
From 1873 our architect's income derived from his profession
bounded upwards : the receipts then were quite double those of
the previous year, while in 1874 they were nearly doubled again, so
that he was making for an architect the quite respectable sum of
something over £1,700 per annum. At this period he was at
once engaged on such lucrative and widely varied matters as
the decorative work at Carlton Towers for Lord Beaumont, the
building of the seminary at Hammersmith and the distillery at
Finsbury, besides quantities of stained glass, organ-cases, and
church furnishings generally.
Among Bentley's predecessors, Pugin for the Catholic
Church, Butterfield for the Anglican, had laboured in their time to
elevate the standard of taste in ecclesiastical art. The latter, who
would never work for the " Roman " Church, had been appointed
664 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
agent in his offices at 4, Adam Street, Adelphi, for the scheme
started in 1843 under the auspices of the Cambridge Camden
Society for the improvement of church plate, etc. ; and in this
capacity he became the receiver of orders, the designer of articles,
and the superintendent of their execution.
That some society or organization to guide in like manner the
Catholic body in England was matter of urgent necessity had
long been recognized by those who understood the real principles
of Christian art and deplored the quantities of rubbish with
which its churches were flooded. A few laymen of this opinion
united therefore in December 1879 to found the Guild of St.
Gregory and St. Luke for the purpose of promoting the study
of Christian antiquities and of propagating the true principles of
Christian art. The Guild was to be composed of active members
or brothers and of honorary members or associates, all of the
Catholic faith. John Bentley was one of the founders, first
among whom was the late Mr. W. H. James Weale, that learned
archaeologist and authority on Flemish art. Indeed the society
owed its existence to the latter' s burning desire to supply a correc-
tive to the lamentable carelessness, ignorance, and want of taste in
matters ecclesiological evinced on all sides by the Catholic body
in this country.
Mr. Weale had founded in Belgium in 1864 a similar guild
under the patronage of SS. Thomas and Luke, whose existence
had been so abundantly justified that he was constrained to believe
that another such organization might profitably have its centre
in London ; for, as he remarked at the opening meeting of the
new Guild, " the majority of Catholics in England, both clergy
and laity, followed with regard to art their own individual fancies
or the current taste of the day without paying any attention to the
traditions or even to the laws of the Church."
The Guild possessed one clerical member, the Rev. Hendrik
van Doorne, a Belgian priest in charge of the Catholic mission at
Brixton, S.W., for whom Bentley later built a portion of a fine
church. Father van Doorne was elected vice-warden of the new
MIDDLE AND LATER LIFE 665
body ; the first warden was the late Sir Stuart Knill, Bt., some-
time Lord Mayor of London. Among the original brethren were
Mr, Edmund Bishop, antiquary, the late Mr. John Henry East-
wood, architect, and the late Mr. Philip Westlake, painter. Mr.
Weale was appointed director. Bentley, then one of the keenest
in the Guild, frequently lent his rooms at 13, John Street for the
fortnightly meetings, which always opened and closed with
prayers. He would join, in his vigorous and interesting way, in
the discussions on any subject that appealed to him.
Such a one was that devoted to the history of the Christian
altar and its modern forms, a subject that occupied the major
part of discussion time at all the meetings during the session
1880-81. The high altar, its position, parts, material, types of
form, the mensa, altar steps, the reredos, its use and form, the
ciborium or canopy, the tabernacle, and the throne for Exposition,
each in turn received attention in these discussions, initiated by
Mr. Weale and enthusiastically entered into by Bentley, who
lavished infinite pains in preparing his contributions thereto.
William Purdue used to assist by looking up authorities and
consulting miniatures in MSS. at the British Museum. The correct
construction and furnishing of altars was a subject on which
Bentley was for ever at war with persons ignorant or careless of
liturgical ordinances.
In the two ensuing sessions were taken in detail the rubrics
regarding altar furniture and the "celatura " or canopy, a ceiling
of varying form and material suspended above altars. Concerning
the latter Bentley diverged in opinion from the majority of
the brethren by maintaining and bringing evidence to prove
the by no means general usage of such canopies in mediaeval
days. The altar in Henry the Seventh's Chapel at Westminster
having been quoted as an instance of one possessing originally
a celatura, he exhibited illustrations to show that the space
set apart for the altar, the low reredos, and the niches with statues
above allowed no room for an altar ceiling or canopy, and that
any traces to show that such had ever existed were wanting.
666 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
From documentary evidence and from examination of various
churches Bentley proved his conclusion that in the Middle Ages,
exceptions to the adoption of the baldachino were numerous
and important. So impressive were his arguments that a resolu-
tion, earlier received with approval by the majority, to the effect
that " in the opinion of the Guild there should be over every high
altar a ciborium or canopy of metal, wood, or stuff, as being in
accordance with the ' Ceremonial i ' tradition and the Decrees
of the Congregation of Rites," was defeated and the question
left open to further documentary proof.
Bentley for a time filled the office of bursar, being elected at a
general meeting held at Rochester in 1881, where the Guild had
spent their " gaudy " for the Feast of St. Luke. Unhappily it
was not long ere the society began to suffer from a tendency in
certain members to lose sight of its objective ; indeed, one would
suppose that some had joined without taking the trouble to read
the constitution. Proposals mooted to alter certain of the rules
led to the estrangement and ultimately to the retirement of those
who kept steadily in view the primary and original motive of the
Guild.
Bentley ceased to attend meetings in 1885, though his with-
drawal from membership was not effected till some years later.
That he was utterly discouraged at the failure of this attempt
to raise through concerted action the standard of our ecclesiastical
art is shown by the bitter words written to the late W. Christian
Symons, the painter, in 1891. Some talk had previously passed
between them on the idea of founding a Guild of Catholic Art, and
Symons had formulated the proposal, on which he was keenly set,
in a letter to Bentley, to which he made reply as follows :
" 13, John Street, Adelphi,
"May 30th, 1891.
"Dear Mr, Symons,
" I fear a Guild or Club of Catholic Art would be a failure,
but yet if you and others think differently, I will gladly co-operate.
MIDDLE AND LATER LIFE 667
" Years ago others and I established a guild for the study and
advancement of liturgy, ecclesiology, and sacred music, and al-
though in existence it is in a sorry plight, and I fear has done
nothing to advance either cause.
" Your calling is the strongest amongst Catholics. In regard
to mine, the only man I have the least respect for is ■ ; of
course I am only speaking of those whose work I have seen.
" Only the other day I was asked to see a stained glass window
by one of the Faithful — by a man who is much talked about — and
it almost made me cry. Unfortunately with us any gaudy clap-
trap goes down, therefore there is positively a worse than no
inducement for an artist to seriously work out anything. The
general run of men who are placed in clerical positions of trust,
and who are called to sit in judgment on the work we do, belong
to the gutter so far as taste is concerned.
" Ever sincerely yours,
" John F. Bentley."
On the appointment of the late Mr. S. J. NichoU, architect, as
director of the Guild of SS. Gregory and Luke in 1890, Bentley
wrote to congratulate : " I am pleased to hear you are appointed
director. May you long continue in the office. I fear I shall never
take an active part, or indeed any part, in its management again.
Were I to do so I should work might and main to revert to the
original state of things."
Bentley's last meeting with the Guild took place on
February 28th, 1899, when he conducted the members ov^r the
Westminster Cathedral works, then in progress. Mr. Edmund
Bishop, a member then present who never became on intimate
terms with the architect, asserts that " on meeting him one recog-
nized a powerful personality, and as one saw more of him, felt that
in his chosen line of life he united to power a singularly just
aesthetic sense and genius."
His attitude to the established art institutions was for
the most part one of cold aloofness. He never after 1863 sub-
668 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
mitted work for exhibition at the Royal Academy, considering
that architecture was treated by that body as the very Cinderella
of the arts. With those corporations of his own art, the Royal
Institute of British Architects and the Architectural Association,
his intercourse was no closer, and he never sought for member-
ship. It would be unjust to his memory to imagine that any
species of intellectual pride was the cause of his remaining out-
side the pale of architectural combination. The explanation, we
believe, lies in the fact that Bentley's was essentially a self-contained
nature and moreover that he belonged to the individualistic type
of architectural practitioner common to an earlier generation.
That unsought honours should come to him from either body
seems never to have entered his mind ; but the time came when,
in spite of the reserve of this intellectually lonely and autocratic
nature, official recognition of its genius could no longer be with-
held. The Royal Institute of British architects had as a body
paid a visit to Westminster Cathedral, his magnum opus, in
1900, and although a formal address was no part of the pro-
ceedings, the architect was present by special request to explain
the scheme of the building and the concrete construction of the
domes and vaults. Not long afterwards a deputation from the
Institute waited upon Bentley to inform him that the R.I.B.A.
desired to recommend his name for the Royal Gold Medal for the
following year, and to ascertain his willingness to accept the honour,
should it be so awarded.
In February 1902 came the delayed announcement of the
awardfng of the medal to Bentley (owing to Queen Victoria's
death none had been given the previous year), followed by the
delighted congratulations of all who knew him. He was really
pleased. " I appreciate," he wrote to one, " the Gold Medal
coming, really as it does, from my confreres, whose opinion I value
and to whose judgment I attach the utmost importance ; especi-
ally the men of thought and those who are endeavouring to make
architecture a living, not a dead art." And, with a similar
meaning to another : " I, of course, value the token accorded to
MIDDLE AND LATER LIFE 669
me as an expression of goodwill and approval of my confreres,
which for years it has been my object to gain ; but, simply as a
trophy, I view it very differently." Alas, death was to intervene
a second time. Bentley never received his " trophy " ; for he
died a fortnight after he had written the above words, the day
before that on which his nomination for the medal was to be
formally confirmed by the Institute.
The architect's family hoped for the melancholy pleasure of
preserving the Medal as an heirloom ; but this was denied them,
both because the nomination was unconfirmed, and because no
precedent existed for bestowing the reward after a nominee's
death, and the King's advisers deemed it inadvisable to create one.
As regards membership of the Royal Academy, his old friend Mr.
C. Napier Hemy, R.A., at the request of several members, sounded
Bentley as to whether he would care to be elected an A.R.A. He
answered " Yes, he would be most pleased," but made it clear that
he would not himself seek for election. Says Mr. Hemy : " He
would have been elected, and had he lived been an R.A. now."
The social side of Bentley 's life was, after marriage, reduced
almost to vanishing point. Living out at Clapham rendered him
a trifle inaccessible and domestic content seems to have kept him
much by his own fireside. Although a member of St. Stephen's
Club from 1882, he was never in any sense a clubman, and rarely
made use of its comforts. It has always seemed to the writer
matter for deep regret that he kept so little in active touch with
the world outside his profession and his home, for on the rare
occasions of his appearance at social gatherings he always met
with the success due to so attractive a personality.
Bentley 's family had by 1894 absolutely outgrown the limited
accommodation provided by 43, Old Town, and moreover the
lease was on the point of expiring. He had had his eye for some
time on a substantial house, about eighty years old, and like Ms
old dweUing, one of three, set back in a drive and known as
" The Sweep," three or four minutes' walk from the Old Town,
and situated on the east side of Clapham Common, just in face
11—22
670 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
of the Cock Pond and the Georgian Parish Church of Holy
Trinity. At the sale by auction of the freehold of this house,
Bentley bid up to a certain sum, which proved to be a good deal
less than the owner's reserve price. No one outbid him, and the
sale was not effected. Seeing that it still remained in the market,
Bentley some months later repeated his offer, a reasonable one in
his opinion, since the dwelling required the expenditure of a large
sum to render it habitable. The offer was accepted, and in due
time the freehold was conveyed to the purchaser. He proceeded
practically to gut the interior, reconstructing ceilings and partition
walls, putting in a new and convenient staircase of his own design-
ing, and replacing the ugly doors and mouldings with good speci-
mens of joinery. He made a bathroom, built an entrance hall of
decent proportions, remodelled the domestic quarters, and generally
transformed it into a convenient and beautiful dwelling. The
improvements during Bentley's absence in Italy proceeded under
the watchful eye of Mr. MuUis, then clerk of works at the
Redemptovist monastery close by, and later chosen to fulfil that
office at Westminster Cathedral. When Bentley reached home in
March he was able to start the internal decorations ; the house
was practically finished and available for habitation by the begin-
ning of August, when the family moved from 43, Old Town, with
deep regrets, in spite of the increased comfort to be enjoyed, at
breaking with so many old and happy associations.
Opportunities vouchsafed for foreign travel were necessarily
limited, owing to the exigencies of his vocation ; on the other hand,
such as came to him were mostly due to that profession. Among
these may be reckoned a visit to Paris in 1867, when Lavers &
Barraud sent to the Exhibition a stained glass window executed
from his designs. This appears to have been the first occasion of
quitting his native land. He was in Paris again about ten years
later, and must, on some earlier occasion, have spent a holiday
in Belgium, whose mediaeval cities he greatly loved. In November
1894, with buoyant expectation and delight, Bentley was making
ready for his first and only sojourn in Italy.
MIDDLE AND LATER LIFE 671
The previous July had brought him the most splendid and
unique opportunity life had to offer, his appointment by Cardinal
Vaughan as architect of the new Catholic Cathedral of West-
minster. Since the detailed history of this event and of Bentley's
subsequent travels is told in the first volume of this memoir, it
will suffice to say here that the architect at once resolved to spare
no pains in educating himself for this great trust, and since a
backward step was to be taken and the Gothic style of his own
country left behind, he determined to journey to Italy and Greece
to steep himself in the earliest types of Christian architecture.
" The new Cathedral," to quote from Mr. Willson's Memoir,'
" was to be of ample dimensions, giving a wide uninterrupted
view of its sanctuary and high altar ; to contain larger and smaller
subsidiary chapels ; to be monumental in character, and yet
capable of beng expeditiously carried out, and without unduly
heavy expenditure. Such conditions were truly a challenge,
which the architect may be said to have worthily taken up with
ability and courage. His preconceptions were against the long-
drawn perspective of pier and arch, at the same time to fall back
on a round-arched style more remote than our Western instances
of the Romanesque ; and no doubt the recent publication upon
Santa Sophia, by Mr. Lethaby and the late Mr. Swainson, strongly
influenced him. The use of large masses of brickwork, of concrete
and of rapidly setting cement, favoured some of the conditions, and
rendered possible the result which the dearness of labour might
have frustrated ; so the building has deservedly attracted the
attention of the engineer, along with the practical architect
and the man of art."
After nearly five months' journeyings through Italy in the
severest winter known there for eighty years, the architect returned
in March 1895 to the practice entrusted during absence to the
care of his friend Purdue and his own capable assistants. With
a rapidity nothing short of marvellous the mentally matured
plans of the Cathedral were poured out on paper, so that the
' Journal of tlie Royal Institute of British Architects, July 26th, 1902.
672 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
laying of the foundation stone could take place on June 29th
of the same year. Thenceforward the great building became
as the sun in Bentley's universe, the fixed centre, as it were,
around which revolved all his life and energy.
His homecoming Avas saddened by the death of Mr. John
Montefiore, that dear friend and patron of thirty years ; hearing
that the end was at hand, he had hurried away from Paris, arriving
only just in time to say farewell. Mr. Montefiore, to whom
Bentley was ever intensely grateful for precious encouragement
in those early years when commissions were few and disappoint-
ments many, passed away at his Streatham residence on March 26th,
to be followed to the grave a few months later by the charming
woman who had shared her husband's joys and sorrows during
over half a century.
Bentley deeply mourned these two dear friends, whose death
was followed in the November of 1896 by that of Mr. Purdue.
He sustained a severe chill through standing to watch the Lord
Mayor's Show on a day of biting east wind ; bronchitis set in,
and the end came swiftly. The top floor at 13, John Street had
been in his occupancy for a number of years, so that he and Bentley
were in daily touch. He was a constant visitor at Clapham, and
never wearied of lavishing kindnesses upon Bentley's children.
Towards young things the simple unselfish child-like spirit of
the dear old fellow seemed to flow spontaneously in sympathy
and love.
Bentley, upon whom devolved the execution of most of the
last sad offices for a rather lonely old man, wrote to acquaint Mr.
Symons and others of his circle of the sad event :
"13, John Street, Adelphi.
November \^th, '96.
" Dear Symons,
" Just a word to tell you some grievous news. Dear old
Purdue is no more ! He took to his bed yesterday week, and died
on Saturday morning at 8.40 from an attack of acute bronchitis.
MIDDLE AND LATER LIFE 673
He received the last Sacraments and the Church's blessing. We
laid him to rest yesterday morning after doing all we could for
him, spiritually and physically. God rest his soul. Remember
him in your prayers. . . .
" Always sincerely yours,
" John F. Bentley."
In May 1898 Bentley visited the United States at the request
of the Bishop of Brooklyn, to give advice with regard to a pro-
posed cathedral, a design for which had been made by a deceased
architect of New York. The prelate and the English architect had
already become acquainted in London, a meeting which resulted
from the former's admiration for the Westminster building. It
was not easy for Bentley to leave his work at home just then, and
even when arrangements for his temporary absence had been at
length achieved, anxiety caused by the serious illness of one of
his daughters delayed his departure by a week or more. He
could not pretend to any burning desire to visit the United States
and, moreover, confided to intimate friends that the " object on
hand in no way excited him."
Bentley stayed at the Bishop's house in Clermont Avenue,
Brooklyn, and appears to have received much courtesy and
hospitality during his brief sojourn in the States. He managed
to visit Niagara, but sight-seeing was necessarily limited by
lack of time and the desire to concentrate in Brooklyn upon the
object of the journey. It will be readily imagined that the trans-
atlantic temperament and outlook would be antipathetic to the
architect's spirit, and his opinion of the race as a whole was in no
wise improved by certain travelling experiences on the Cunarder
and in the States.
The great difficulty to be faced with regard to the proposed
cathedral at Brooklyn was one that necessitated serious and pro-
tracted consideration, namely that of reliable foundation in its
deep alluvial soil. Said Mr. Willson : " The newly appointed
architect set his face against the use of iron columns and other
1 Loc. cit.
674 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
artificial methods, and having investigated the selection of suit-
able stone, brick and other materials, he returned to England in
July, insufficiently rested by the voyage, to resume his usual work
and to elaborate this new design. The mediaeval style seemed
to him best to meet all requirements and the drawings show
a complete Gothic church about 350 ft. in length, having two
western towers and a boldly treated lantern at the intersection
of the transepts. Its style may be classed as ' advanced,' there
being flowing traceried windows and other features of a late
period,"
The designs, with a view to the Bishop of Brooklyn's proposed
visit to England in the summer of 1902, were in a forward con-
dition when Bentley laid down his pencil for the last time. Those
entrusted with the continuance of his work put the finishing touches
to the eight- scale drawings and presented them complete in all
their beautiful detail for the Bishop's consideration on his arrival,
with the hope that they might be permitted to superintend the
rearing on the other side of the Atlantic of Bentley's last great
work. The Bishop carried the set of drawings back to America.
Since then there has been silence. Is it possible that discourage-
ment at the similar fate overtaking both the architects appointed
to build Brooklyn Cathedral is an explanation of the fact that
though sixteen years have passed, yet no tidings concerning the
beginning of building operations have come from over the water ?
Bentley was in far from robust health when he went to America ;
indeed he had never been the same since the dangerous attack of
peritonitis which in the spring of 1894 had gravely undermined a
constitution already weakened by influenza. The journey west
was certainly a severe strain on small reserves of strength already
overtaxed " by the duties relating to ordinary works in his practice,
some of them minute and requiring inventive skill, besides those
of the completion and fittings of his great work at Westminster." '
He struggled on, denying himself the rest he was advised to take,
through the summer and autumn, iintil the moment of parting
' Loc. cit.
MIDDLE AND LATER LIFE 675
with his eldest son, who, going to New Zealand, was the first to quit
the parental roof, seemed to prove the last straw. In November a
sudden weakness and slight temporary difficulty of speech pointing
to a paralytic affection came as a stunning blow upon those who
loved him. Bentley was under no delusions regarding his condi-
tion, and consented to lie up for a while. But as soon as a little
strength had accumulated the brave, unflinching spirit was no
longer to be deterred from resumption of the daily routine. Per-
haps he became a trifle more attentive to bodily needs ; otherwise
the hours of unsparing labour standing at the drawing-table and
the multitudinous visits of inspection occupied his days as of old.
Close and anxious was the watch of those who knew that the
strain could not endure, and waited with unspoken dread the
dark shadow of a second attack. It overtook him at a cruel
moment in June 1900. Members of the R.I.B.A. were visiting
the cathedral in a body ; Bentley was to meet them and explain
the construction and any other points in which they were interested.
When the moment came for him to speak he discovered that his
tongue was powerless, and was obliged to beg Canon Johnson to
fill his place. It was a crushed and aged man who returned home
early that summer afternoon. Though the illness was severe and
the time of convalescence very weary, the undaunted spirit still
refused to yield to the infirmities of its enfeebled body.
Bentley, immediately the doctor's ban was removed (which it
soon was, as the forced inaction was found to be doing him more
harm than good), picked up the threads of correspondence and,
assisted by his eldest daughter, directed his practice from the
bed of sickness. His defective speech was the greatest difficulty to
overcome, but between signs and the power of affection able to
divine his meaning it was found possible to take down the letters
and instructions he dictated. Specimens of marble and of glass
mosaic, clay models from the sculptor's studio and such-like
apparatus of his craft littered his bed from day to day, and at
each new problem to be settled the superhuman effort of concen-
tration was to be fought for again and yet again.
676 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
With convalescence sufficiently advanced he went with his
family to Hythe, the little Cinque Port town in which he had
always liked to stay since he first discovered its charms and took
a house there in the summer of 1886. At the close of August
there was a distinct improvement in health and a more bracing
climate was recommended to complete the cure, if such it might
be termed. A few weeks at Southwold seemed to work wonders.
Bentley came back to London, and by degrees resumed the old
way of life. His speech was restored in great measure, but if he
were tired or worried, it would become very indistinct and difficult
to follow.
He stuck to his last throughout 1901, taking only a few weeks'
rest at Lee-on-Solent in August, and was able to write the
never-omitted greetings to the intimates of early days at the close
of the year. To Mr. Hadfield he wrote as follows :
" The Sweep, Clapham Common.
" Dece7nber 29th, 1901.
" Dear Hadfield,
" Pardon me for not writing earlier as I should have done
had it not been for pressure of work. I am thankful to say that
I am no worse, yet my defective speech is still a great trouble to
me.
" The cathedral is making progress, but, as you know, the
finishing is always slow procedure.
" I met [Norman] Shaw and Lethaby there a short time ago.
Both said and appeared pleased with all they saw. The Cardinal,
I am pleased to say, has given in to the marble pavement.
" I trust that you continue busy. At times I am tempted
to wish for a long rest. For some time I feel that I have been at
straining tension, I suppose weak health and years are beginning
to tell.
" With best wishes for all happiness and prosperity to you and
yours for the New Year.
" Always sincerely yours,
"John F. Bentley."
MIDDLE AND LATER LIFE 677
And a few weeks later to the same :
" You are quite right ; forty years makes a difference in one's
thoughts and aspirations ; besides, it fully makes known the
shortness of a long life."
There seemed to be a distinct rallying of his forces as the winter
waned ; which, coupled with the slight glow of elation produced by
his nomination for the Royal Gold Medal and the fast-rising
tide of praise and professional appreciation of the now nearly
finished work at Westminster, lulled anxiety and awakened a
delusive hope in the breasts of those about him. He even began
to talk with some confidence of crossing the Atlantic a second time
in the summer.
This false sense of security was too soon to be shattered. He
had been looking forward to a meeting with Mr. Charles Hadfield,
the faithful intimate friend of forty years, who proposed to be in
London at the end of February. Apprised of his arrival he
wrote on Friday, February 28th, to make an appointment for the
morrow :
" 13, John Street, Adelphi,
" February 2Sth, 1902.
" Dear Hadfield,
" I am glad to hear that you are now in town, and I shall
be pleased to see you to-morrow. Come down to the Sweep to
luncheon on Sunday and stay the day.
" The frost stopped all building here for about three weeks
or the brickwork of the campanile would have been completed.
" The stalls are not bad. German of about 1480.
" Always sincerely yours,
" John F. Bentley."
The history of that last meeting must be told in Mr. Hadfield's
own words : " On March 1st I saw him for the last time, standing at
his drawing-board, full of enthusiasm, and his mind as alert as
ever. He talked cheerfully of old times, showed me his drawing
678 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
of the great hanging Cross and his noble designs for the
marble pavement of the cathedral, observing that he hoped
' to outrival the pavement of St. Mark's.' We parted, after
arranging to spend the following day together at his home at
Clapham."
According to custom, the assistants departed at one o'clock
on Saturday, and Bentley spent the afternoon quietly at work
on a splendid high altar and reredos he was designing for St.
James's Church, Spanish Place. Spectacles and pencil were left
upon the unfinished drawing when later in the afternoon he
passed out of the office for the last time, and travelled to Grosvenor
Road, where the son and three of the daughters of the late Mr.
John Montefiore had been living for several years. It was then
a not unusual occurrence for Bentley to visit them about tea-
time, since it was his custom to pay frequent visits to the studio
on the river bank, practically opposite their house, where the late
W. Christian Symons was at work on the mosaic cartoons for
Westminster Cathedral.
However on this occasion he called with special and kindly
intent to inspect an old picture belonging to a friend of the Monte-
fiores, who desired to have Bentley's opinion with a view to
selling it. Bentley looked at the picture and talked for an
hour or so with the usual animation and charm. But suddenly
his hostess became aware of a change, and on rising to leave
between six and seven o'clock, he staggered, and would have
fallen but for their promptitude in getting him to a chair. A
second effort to rise and put on his coat brought the same result,
and seeing that matters were indeed serious the two ladies managed
to lay him upon a sofa, where he rapidly sank into unconsciousness.
Their first care was to summon their own doctor ; the next to
acquaint wife and children of the tragic happening. Desiring
to spare them the shock of a telegram, Miss Edith Montefiore
drove as fast as she could to Clapham to break the news.
Some anxiety had been felt at Bentley's non-appearance at the
dinner-hour ; but it was soothed by the suggestion that probably
MIDDLE AND LATER LIEE 679
he had arranged to dine in town with Mr. Hadfield, though it had
to be admitted that it was unhke him to have omitted to telegraph
in such circumstances.
Mrs. Bentley and her eldest daughter hastened, overcome
with grief, to the side of the sufferer, to find him so deeply sunk
in coma that he knew no one. A priest was fetched from Arch-
bishop's House to administer Extreme Unction, and when priest
and doctor had done all in their power, he was placed upon an
ambulance and gently carried home. His own two doctors
received him, but their services could be of no avail. The deep
unconsciousness ran its course as they predicted for twelve hours,
and ended in death just before six o'clock as the cold March day
was dawning.
Cardinal Vaughan, wishing to be present at the Funeral Mass,
arranged that it should take place at St. Mary's, Clapham, on
Wednesday, March 5th. The body was placed on its catafalque
before the high altar on Tuesday night, and the next morning,
in the presence of a great concourse, testifying to the respect of
public bodies and the admiration and affection of individuals.
Cardinal Vaughan preached Bentley's funeral oration and gave
him the last blessings of the Church. After the absolutions were
given the coffin was borne shoulder high by his cathedral craftsmen
through the western door to the strains of Chopin's Funeral
March. He was laid to rest in the grave of his two little children
at the Catholic Cemetery at Mortlake.
Over his body a tombstone has been placed by his widow,
sculptured from the designs of Mr. John A. Marshall by Messrs.
Whitehead, who spared no pains in the perfect execution of this
last service for the client they had so greatly respected. Another
memorial erected by the widow is a fine wrought-iron screen, one
of two on the north side of the sanctuary at St. Mary's, Clapham,
the church where Bentley had worshipped (always in his own
fashion in an obscure corner, behind a pillar at the west end of
the south aisle) for eight and twenty years. The architect had
designed these grilles just before his death. A third memorial is
680 WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS ARCHITECT
the stone wall-tablet, sculptured with his portrait, put up by Mr.
S. Taprell Holland in Holy Rood Church, Watford.
And now that his name and fame are committed to the safe
keeping of posterity, this record of a selfless life may be summed
up in Cardinal Vaughan's valedictory words :
" Bentley was a poet ; he saw and felt the beauty, the fancy,
the harmony and meaning of his artistic creations. He had no
love of money, he cared little for economy ; he had an immense
love of art, a passion for truth and sincerity in his work. He was
not ambitious to get on,; he was not self-assertive, but he coveted
to do well. He went in search of no work, but waited for the
work to come in search of him. He was exquisitely gentle and
considerate in dealing with suggestions and objections; but he
would have his own way whenever it was a question of fidelity to
his standard of artistic execution. He was the best of architects
for a cathedral, or for any work that was to excel in artistic beauty.
He was no mere copyist and no slave to tradition. Whatever he
produced was stamped with his own individuality ; it was alive
and original ; and he had a genius for taking infinite pains with
detail.
" His reverence for God, for our Lord, His Blessed Mother and
the Saints pervaded everything he did for the Church. In his
judgments on art and style there was a critical but kindly humour ;
one always felt that there were an elevation and inspiration in his
mind and character that were due to his religious instincts and to
his unworldly standard of life. It seems to me that it will be
necessary for the perfection of the work Mr. Bentley has left beliind
him, to retain his mind as a guide to its completion, as far as we can
know it. We know what happened to St. Peter's and to other
buildings in which the plan and the genius of the original arcliitect
were departed from. Let us maintain the main idea and the unity
of Bentley's work to the end."
INDEX
Abbott, Mr., projected house for, 479
Acton, John Adams-, Cardinal Manning's
tomb, 146
Addlestone Church, stained glass, 536
Alfonso XIII and Westminster Cathedral,
183
AU Saints, Hordle, organ case, 625
— , Old Kent Road, organ case, 619
Alma-Tadema, Sir Lawrence, and West-
minster mosaics, 229
Altar-rails, metal, 560 ; marble, 588
Altars, 585
High
Beaumont College, 470
Braintree, 468
Corpus Christi Church, 417
Franciscan Convent, Bayswater, 465
Holy Rood, Watford, 427
Llanvair Oratory, Ascot, 609
Paul's Convent, Taunton, 461
St . Charles Borromeo's , Ogle Street, 586
St. Francis's, Netting Hill, 374
St. Gabriel's, Warwick Square, 605
St. James's, Spanish Place, 696
St. John's, Beaumont, 514
St. Mary's, Cadogan Street, 381
— , Crook, 381
St. Patrick's, Liverpool, 384
St. Peter's, Doncaster, 607
SS. Peter and Edward's, Westminster,
379
Side
Bishop Eton, 383
Holy Name, Manchester, 614
Holy Rood, Watford, 432
Lady Altar, Braintree, 469
, Notting Hill, 375
— — , St. Marie's, Hahfax, 386
St. James's, Spanish Place, 599
St. John's, Notting Hill, 373
St. John's, Old Cumnock, 608
St. John, Palace Street, 379
St. Mary of the Angels, Bayswater, 447
Ven. Bede's, Ushaw, 610
Westminster Cathedral. See under
Westminster
Amycla, Bishop of. See Fenton, Monsignor
Anderdon, Rev. Dr., and Westminster
Cathedral Funds, 10
Ara Coeli, child preachers at, 31
Archbishop's House, Westminster, old, 13 ;
new, plan, style, and site, 274 ; instruc-
tions as to cost, 273 ; Cardinal's desire for
simplicity, 276 ; entrance porch, 276 ;
grand staircase, 282 ; state apartments,
286 ; library, 289 ; chapel, 292 ; cloister,
295
Architecture, ecclesiastical, 395 ; domestic,
473
Architectural Review on Westminster
Cathedral, 308
Arindela, Bishop of. See Johnson, Mon-
signor W. A.
Arundell of Wardour, Lord, and West-
minster Land Co., 15
Assumption, Church of. See Warwick
Street Church
Assisi, visit to, 33
Aveling, Rev. Dr. F., and Westminster
Choir School, 302
Bainbridge, Yorks., house, 475
Baker, Rev. A. S., reredos Kensal
Church, 405
Baldacchiiio, We.stminster, Bentley's de-
scription, 49 ; construction and details,
137 ; alteration of design, 141
Ballarat Cathedral, stained glass, 552;
gas standards, 566
Barff, Canon Albert, as friend and client,
358 ; stained glass, 533 ; candlesticks
and cross, 564 ; chairs, 577
— Mrs. Frederick, memorial glass, 534 ;
grave cross, 628
— Professor F. S., early friendship, 358 ;
house alterations, 490
Barkentin and Krall, metal work by, 568
Barnascone, H., stained glass for, 531
Barrett, Rev. M., O.S.B., Scottish saints
for Westminster Cathedral, 167
Barrington Church, stained glass, 532
Barry, Canon W., as client of Bentley, 595
681
682
INDEX
Battlesden Church, stained, glass, 536 ;
restoration, 631
Baxter, Dudley, Rivington Memorial, 125 ;
mosaic scheme, Westminster, 232
Beaconsfield, Lord, vision of Cathedral, 20
Beaumont College, high altar, 470 ; metal
work, 471; altar rail, 561 ; candlesticks,
564 ; tabernacle, 566 ; chalice, 568
— Preparatory School. See St. John's,
Beaumont
Beaumont. Dowager Lady, cottages, 479
— . Lord, in Westminster Land Co., 15 ;
projected flat-building scheme, 479
Bell, Anning, R.A , Westminster Cathedral
mosaics , Lady Chapel, 1 7 3 ; W. tympanum ,
256, 257
Bellasis, Edward, church screen for, 650
— , Mrs. W. Dalgleish, stained glass for, 551
Benedictines and service of Westminster
Cathedral, 60, 302
Benefactors, Westminster Cathedral, privi-
leges of, 261
Bennett, Rev. John, friendship with, 520
Bentley, Alderman Robert, house altera-
tions for, 492
— . Ann, marriage. 334 ; death, 654
— . Charles, birth and marriage, 334 ;
death, 342
— , John Francis, commissioned to build
Westminster Cathedral, 22 ; audience
with Leo XIII, 31 ; attends requiem
for Pius IX, 31 ; awarded King's
gold medal, 310, 668 ; burial in Cathedral
not allowed, 311 ; birth and parentage,
333 ; early technical education, 337 ;
desire to be a painter, 339 ; as clerk of
works, 340 ; as engineer's apprentice,
341 ; as builder's apprentice, 341 ; archi-
tectural training, 347 ; refuses partner-
ship, 350 ; early practice, 351 ; enters
Catholic Church, 359 ; baptism and
thank-offering, 360, 371 ; marriage, 653 ;
death and burial, 679 ; funeral oration,
680
, choice of friends, 352 ; character
sketch, 361 ; religious ideals, 361 ; aver-
sion to stage, 362 ; views on Christian
allegory, 387 ; as a diarist, 654 ; episodes
of family life, 658 ; qualities in middle
and late life, 660 ; last Christmas greet-
ings, 676
, dwelling-places : Southampton
Street, Strand, 351 ; 13 John Street,
Adelphi, 394, 653 ; Old Town, Clapham.
657 ; The Sweep, Clapham, 669
, sickness, 306, 478, 674 ; health,
urged to care for, 364
, attitude towards competitive prac-
tice, 21, 348 ; last visits to Cathedral,
158, 311 ; favourite early period and
style, 347 ; study at Architectural
Museum, 352 ; professional practice,
passion for work, 364 ; dawning pros-
perity, 393 ; limited opportunities for
church building, 395 ; as designer of
mosaic, 449 ; of stained glass, 522 ; o£
metal-work, 555 ; of furniture, 577 ;
favourite later period and style, 573 ; pas-
sion for good craftsmanship, 584 ; staff
and pupils, 662 ; professional success,
663 ; guild to elevate ecclesiastical art,
664 ; attitude towards Royal Academy
and architectural bodies, 668 ; probable
election to R.A., 669
Bentley , Jo lui F ra ncis , portrait , Westminster
Cathedral, 204 ; tablet. Holy Rood, Wat-
ford, 430 ; screen, St. Mary's, Clapham,
457, 558; monuments and memorials to,
679
■—. travel: Italv, 26; Paris, 670;
States 673
— , Osmond, altar lamp, Westminster, 186 ;
decorative work at St. Francis's, Netting
Hill, 371, 375 ; tlirone, St. Mary's,
Cadogan Street, 401 ; stained glass, 417,
541 ; I hapel, St. Mary's, Clapham, 458 ;
St. Jolm's, Beaumont, 514 ; St. Botolph'a,
Bishopsgate, 644
— , Wilfred, death, 658
— , William. 341
— . Son & Marshall, constitution of firm, 312
Beyaert, L., cathedral woodwork, 206, 294
Bishop, Edmund, mosaic scheme for West-
minster, 230 ; and Guild of SS. Gregory
and Luke, 655 ; opinion of J. F. Bentley,
667
Bishop Eton, early work for, 385 ; mon-
strance,568; tabernacle, 566; tiiptych, 609
Bishop's Hull, Taimton, alterations, 492
Blackburne, E. L., F.S.A., friendship with,
351
Blacker, Captain, memorial, 631
Blanco, General Guzman, altar candle-
sticks for, 564
Blewbury Church, stained glass, 544
Blount, Alfred J., negotiations for
Cathedral site, 15
Boeddinghaus, Rev. C, and Cathedral
funds. 10
Bolney Church, restoration, 651
Bookcase designs, 580
Bootliman, C, mosaic scheme for West-
minster, 230
Bosworth, Mrs., font for, 615
Bourne, Cardinal, enthronization, 317 ;
Vaughaa Chantry Fund, 188
INDEX
683
Brampton, Lady, a foundress o£ West-
minflter Cathedral, 3 ; chantry, 156
— . Lord, design for monument, 156; re-
quiem, 157
Brangwyn, Frank, R.A., design for mosaic,
Westminster, 256
Brett, John, A.K.A., opinion of Bentley's
work, 483
Brewer, H. W., perspective of Westminster
Cathedral, 240; friendship, 354; appre-
ciation of Bentley's stained glass, 525
Brickwall, Sussex, decorations, 490
Bridge, (leorge, mosaics, Westminster
Cathedral, 162, 191, 202 ; Warwick Street
Church, 452
Bridgett, Rev. Thomas, mosaic scheme,
Westminster, 225
Brindle, Bishop, consecration of Holy
Rood, Watford, 423 ; Braintree Chapel,
466
Brindley, W., F.G.S., discovery of ancient
quarries, 119, 120
Bromsgrove Guild, altir crucifix, 188
Brooklyn Cathedral designs, 440, 673
Burges, William, A.R.A., architectural in-
fluence of, 349; not a friend of Bentley,
524
Burlison and Grylls, stained glass, 431
Burton, Mother Mary Frances, friendship
with, 380
Bash, William J., memorial stalls and
lectern, 645
Bute, fourth Marquess of, and West-
minster Cathedral, 163
— , third Marquess of, gift to Westminster
Cathedral, 151 ; to St. John's, Old
Cumnock, 60S
Butler, Rev. Robert, as client, 442
— , William L., memorial, 630
Butterfield, W., R.A., friendship with, 358 ;
satisfaction with Bentley's work, 458
Byzantine architecture, reasons for use at
Westminster, 25 ; characteristics, 43 ;
adaptation to needs at Westminster, 208
Cabinets, designs, 574, 580
CaUaghan, AUce M., and St. George's altar,
Westminster, 194
Campbell, Monsignor, guide to Bentley in
Rome, 30
Candlesticks, altar, 564, 603
Cantini, M., Baldacchino marbles, 138
Csirlisle, stained glass, 552
Carlos, Don. chalice for, 568
Carlton Towers, cottages, 479 ; completion,
485 ; drawing-room, 486 ; armoury and
entrance hall, grand staircase, billiard-
room, library, 487 ; chapel, cardroom,
picture gallery, 488 ; stained glMS, 537 ;
tiredogs and grates, 569
Carsetjee, Sir Mannockjee, house design,
386
Casket, presentation, 570
Catholic Women's League, mosaic at West-
minster, 191
Celatura, discussions on mediaeval usage.
665
Chairs, designs for, 577
Chalices, 567
Chandeliers, 570
Chaplin, Rev. E. M., memorial glass, 536
Chapman, J. Mitchel, house, 489
Chapter Hall. jSee Westminster Cathedral
Hall
Chilton Church, stained glass, 536
Chimney-breasts, Bentley's dislike of, 483
Chimney-pieces, Carlton Towers, 486 ; Mr.
Murray Tuke, 490 ; Hon. R. Strutt, 490
Christchurch, Streatham, pulpit, 390 ;
stained glass, 527 ; altar cross, 565 ;
font cover, 615
Churches, building, 395 ; restoration, 631
Clapham, Alfred H., memorial panels, 645
Clayton & Bell, mosaic and opus sectile at
Westminster, 154, 155, 161
Clerks of works, Westminster, 74, 274
Cleverley, George S., as clerk of works, 338
Clifford of Chudleigh, Lord, and Cathedral
site, 2, 15
— Monsignor, collection of Cathedral funds ,
— Sir Charles, trustee Wiseman memorial,
9; resignation, 11 ; Cathedral site pur-
chase, 15
Clock, long case, 575
— Tower, early design for, 348
Glutton, Henry, Westminster Cathedral
designs, 11, 12, 13 ; as Bentley's master,
342
Coffin, Bishop, interest and friendship of,
383, 520
Coleraine Church, design for, 440
Coles, Rev. E. R., stained glass for, 536
— , Rev. V. S. S., stained glass for, 533, 545
— . W. G., stained glass for, 535
Collaton ChiU'ch, stained glass, 532
Communion rails, metal, 560 ; alabaster,
588
Competitions, early participation in, 347 ;
attitude towards, 348
Corbishley, Monsignor J., chalice for, 568
Corpus Christi Church, Brixton, history,
plan and structure, 407 ; subsequent
additions, 416 ; high altar, 417 ; presby-
tery, 496; schools, 521; stained gle»9 ,
541 ; tabernacle, 567
684
INDEX
Courage, Harold, domestic ■work for, 493
— . Henry, restoration of Bolney Church,
652
— . Mrs. Robert, organ case for, 621
Cross, pectoral, 569
Crosses, altar, 565
CuUen, Paul, altar, Beaumont, 514
CiuTtin, Rev. J., at Corpus Christi Church,
419
Dalton, Canon, Cathedral fund collection,
10
Daniels, George, mosaic, 451 ; stained
glass, 523
Darwen, Lanes., chapel design, 472
D'Auinale,Duc,andWestminsterCathedral,
264
Daymiind, John, sculpture and wood
carving, 580, 588
Debenham, E., mosaics, Westminster
Cathedral, 166
De Havilland, General John, introduces
Bentley to Lord Beaumont, 485 ;
heraldry at Carlton Towers, 486 ; house
alterations for, 492 ; death, 492; stained
glass for, 535
de I'Hopital, Rene, portrait of architect,
204
de Lisle, Ambrose PliiUips, suggestion of
cathedral, 8
Denbigh, Earlof, and WestminsterCathedral
site, 2, 15
Denny, Rev. C. H., cathedral fvmd collec-
tion, 10
Dent, George, stained glass for, 536 ;
memorial, 606 ; as client, 615
Denton Church, organ case, 626
Dick, Katherine K., stained glass for,
541
Diocesan Hall . See Westminster Cathedral
Hall
Distillery, Finsbury, 496
Domestic architecture, 473
Dormer, Hon. Hubert, memorial for, 628
Douglas, Father, friendship in Rome, 31
Doulton & Co., tcna-cotta in Westminster
Cathedral, 54, 96
Draycot, cemetery chapel design, 472
Drayton Church, stained glass, 534
Dream of Oerontiua, Cathedral performance,
313
Duneroft, Staines, extensions, 489
Dunn, Monaignor T., and Vaughan chantry
fund, 188
Durant, Miss, reredos and font for, 390
Earp, Messrs., sculptors of early work, 588
East Garston Church, stained glass, 536
Eastwood, J. H., architect of Leeds
Cathedral, 618: in Guild of SS.
Gregory and Luke, 665
Edinburgh Review, on Westminster mosaics,
252
Electric lighting, Westminster Cathedral,
129, 174, 182, 186; Watford, 565 ; St.
Botolph's, Bishops, gate, 646
Ellerslie, Sydenham, designs, 475
ElUot, Messrs., woodwork at Westminster,
103
Elsley, Messrs., metal work at Westminster,
109, U3
Embroidery, designs, 583
Emmaus, Bishop of, collection of cathedra)
funds, 10
Exham, Rev. A. H., memorial window, 639
Exhibitions, London, 1851, visit to, 335 ;
1862, Bentleys exhibits, 380, 556
Factories, designs, 497
Farm Street Church. See Immaculate
Conception, Church of
Farmer and Brindley, marbles at West-
minster, 123, 139, 151, 166
Fearon, Rev. J. F., memorial. Hammer-
smith, 459
Fenders, 569
Fenton, Monsignor, and Westminster
Cathedral, 62, 263
Firedogs, 569
Firegrates, 569
Fitzwilliam, Lady Alice, altar crucifix
for, 188
Flats, Knightsbridge, 479
Fleuss, Henry J., 655
— Margaret A., 655
Florence, visit to, 28 ; criticism of Duomo,
29
Fonts and font covers, 615 ; Westminster
Cathedral, 150; St. Francis's, NottingHill,
371 ; St. Marv's, Collaton, 391 ; Holy
Rood, Watford, 432 ; St. Luke's, Chid-
dingstone, 438
Founders, Westminster Cathedral, privi-
leges of, 261 ; B. Sacrament Chapel,
266 ; list of, 327
Fountain, drinking, Barbados, 389
Fowke, Lewly, and St. Luke's, Chidding-
stone, 439
Frames, mirror and picture, 575, 582
Franciscan Convent, Braintree, designs,
466; iiltar lamp, 564
, Portobello Road, early work, 380 ;
altars and structural alterations, 463 ;
sanctuary lamp, 562
Freeman, Messrs., granite at Westminster,
2, 72
INDEX
685
Fripp, Injies, altar piece, 459 ; stations of
the cross, 618
Furniture, domestic, STS ; ecclesiastical,
584
Gainsborough, Earl of, and Wiseman
memorial fund, 9, 1 1
Gaisford, Lady Alice, monument, 629
Garner,Thomas , marble work , Westminster,
189 ; designs, St. James's, Spanish Place,
596
Gasquet, Cardinal, criticism of Westminster
retro-choir, 58 ; mosaic scheme, 230
Gate, A. J., cathedral siu'veying, 69
Gerard, Lord, cathedral Pioneer, 14 ;
stained glass for, 544
Gill, Eric, sculpture, Westminster, 129
Gim.son, Ernest, stalls, Westminster, 166
Glass, stained. See Stained 'ilass
Glenmuire, Ascot, designs, 477
Golden Lane, warehouse, 496
Goslin, S. B., and Westminster bells, 114
Green, Everard, introduction of Lord
Beaumont, 485 ; on stained glass, 539 ;
as " best man," 656
Grene, Rev. F., as client, 562
Grilles. See Screens
Grimsby Church, tabernacle, 566
Guards Institute, as Archbishop's House, 1 3
Guild of SS. Gregory and Luke, foundation
and objects, 664 ; failure, 666
Hadden, Rev. R. H., restorations, St.
Botolph's, Aldgate, 633 ; St. Mark's, N.
Audley Street, 650
Hadfield, Charles, letter on Bentley's
appointment at Westminster, 23 ; on
Cathedral structure ,72,87; reminiscences ,
355 ; pen portrait of Bentley, 361 ;
stained glass for, 530 ; last meeting with
Bentley, 677
— , Matthew, as friend, 355 ; as client,
386
Hammersmith Seminary. See Seminary,
Hammersmith
Hanley, Elizabeth, memorial glass, 548
— Sophia, memorial glass, 429
Hardman and Powell, reredos, 446
Harrison, Miss Lucy, house designs, 475
Harthill Church, stained glass, 531
Hartley, Mrs. and Miss, monument, 627
Harvey, Mrs. Barclay, font, Chiddingstone,
438
Hatton Garden, alterations, 498
Hawkins, Sir Henry. See Brampton, Lord
Heal, Harris, domestic work and furniture
for, 492
Heigham Church, competitive design, 347
11—23
Hemy, Charles N., R.A., early friendship,
354
Heme Church, organ case, 624
Heron's Ghyli, additions, 480 ; E. V.
Lucas on, 480 ; sale, 485 ; stained glass
537
Hewitt, Graily, altar cards, Westminster,
166
Hills, Mrs. Ernest, and St. Luke's, Cliidding-
stone, 433 ; appreciati m of Bentley's
work, 439
Hogg, Rev. J. R., memorial glass, 532
Holland, P^ichard, help in Bentley's career,
342
— , S. Taprell, donor. Holy Rood, Wat-
ford, 419; chantry chapel. 431; stained
glass, 550
Holy Name, Manchester, Lady Chapel
decoration and altar, 613
— Rood, Watford, history, plan and
structure, 419 ; presbytery, 496 ; schools,
521 ; stained glass, 546 ; screens and
gates, 559 ; altar rails, 560 ; altar cross
and candlesticks, 565 ; electric pendants,
565 ; tabernacle, 567
— Trinity, Minories, survey, 648
Howard of Glossop, Lord, communion rail
for, 562
Howlett, Monsignor, and Westminster
Cathedral Chronicle, 42
Hutchins, Mrs., monument, 629
Hyde, Mrs., stained glass for, 534
Immaculate Conception Church, Farm
Street, Bentley's early connection with,
■"50 ; proposed extension, 494 ; relic
cupboards, 618
Italy, travels in, 26
Jack, George, mosaic cartoons, West-
minster, 166
Johnson, Monsignor W. A., connection with
Cathedral scheme, 263 ; treasurer, 262
Keens, Rev. C. J., Kensal New Town
Church, 402
Kennedy, Ernest, pulpit, Westminster,
126
Kensal New Town Church. See Our Lady
of the Holy Souls
Kilcook Church, high altar, 387
Kirk, Rev. F., mission work, 367
Knight, Mr., and St. Mary's. Cadogan
Street, 397
Knill, Sir Stuart, at Westminster Cathedral,
2 ; in Guild of SS. Gregory and Luke,
665 ; casket for, 570
686
INDEX
Knox, John Erskine, houses designed for,
479 ; Bentley's employment of, 585, 588
Lamb, Percy A., appointed clerk of works.
Westminster, 74 ; in charge of domes, 91 ;
Lady Chapel, St. Tlioma^-'s Seminary, 505
Lambert, O. and M. J., memorial glass to,
538
Lamps, altar, St. John's, Beaumont, 514;
church, 562
Langford-BudvUle Church, stained glass,
535
La vers , Barraud and Westlake , stained glass ,
collaboration with Bentley, 400, 527
Lawrence & Sons, brickmaking for ( athe-
dral, 70
Lecterns, Exhibition 1862, 556 ; St. John's,
Hammersmith, 460
Lee <t Co., altar, Westminster, 194
Lee, Stirling, sculpture, Westminster, 166
Leeds Cathedral. See St. Anne's, Leeds
Leeds, stained glass, 530 ; hotel decora-
tions, 386
Leo XIII, represented at Westminster
stone-laying, 4, 6 ; Bentley's audience,
29 ; accepts copy of Cathedral plans,
62 ; becomes Cathedral founder, 264
Leonori, Aristide, pulpit, Westminster,
125
Lescher, Herman, and cathedral site piur-
chase, 15
Lethaby, Professor W. R., visit to West-
minster Cathedral, 88 ; appreciation of
Cathedral, 116,308,309
Lethbridge, Rev. A., stained glass for, 545
Lewis, Thomas C, letter re Italian Chiu-ch
organs, 28 ; design for Westminster
organ, 136 ; introduction to Bentley,
357 ; Sydenham house designs, 474 ;
furniture for, 578
Library, Westminster. See under West-
minster Cathedral
Liddon, Canon, stained glass for, 544
Lighting of churches, 565
Lights, liturgical, 562
Lincoln's Inn, library decoration, 493
Litany desk, St. John's, Hammersmith,
460
Little Bookham Church, organ case, 623
Lloyd, Rev. H. W., memorial to, 617
Locke, Dean, stained glass for, 530
Lockhart, Mary Elizabeth, Franciscan
abbess, 380 ; grave cross, 627
Loder, Dowager Lady, and Font, West-
minster, 151
Logue, Cardinal, at Westminster stone-
laying, 4
Longden, H., metal work by, 488, 569
Longueville, T., Westminster mosaics
scheme, 230
Lord Mayor of London, at Westminster
Cathedra] stone-laving, 2 ; consecration,
323
Louis, Madame Jane, Clapham Memorial
Chapel, 455
Loversall Church, Bentley as clerk of works
340
Lowndes & Drury, glazing, Westminster
Cathedral, 166
Lucas, Dean .A .. and Braintree Convent, 466
— , E. v.. on Heron's Ghyll, 480
— . Rev. Herbert, defence of retro-choir,
Westminster, 60 ; defence of Baldacchino
design, 141 ; on Byzantine architecture,
208 ; Westminster mosaics scheme, 234 ;
Holy Souls" Chapel mosaics, description,
198 ; criticism, 250
Macdonald, Anne C, memorial glass to, 455
MacMullen, Canon, and St. Mary's, Cadogan
Street, 397
McAuliffe, Rev. W., chalice for, 567
McCarthy, Henry, sculpture, Vaughan
monument, 186 ; St. Mary's, Cadogan
Street, 399 ; Bentley's memorial tablet,
431 ; employment of, 588
Mahoney family, stained glass, 538 ; taber-
nacle, 567
Manley, H. T., domestic work for, 492
Manning, Cardinal, and Westminster
Cathedral scheme, 9 ; siiggests Chelsea
site, 10 ; a Pioneer of, 14 ; tomb, 144,
146; translation of, 145; Holy Rood,
Watford, and foundation stone of, 422 ;
St. Thomas's Seminarj-, views on de-
signs of, 502 ; memorial glass, 544 ;
private oratory, altar for, 590 ; monu-
ment, 628
— . Monsignor W. H., memorial to, 446
Manor Farm, Guildford, alterations, 493
— Lodge, Sheffield, stained glass, 537
Marshall, Jolin A., Westminster Cathedral,
on structural problems of, 74, 91 ; canopy
B. Sacrament chapel, 174 ; metal-work,
B. Sacrament chapel, 181 ; decorations,
Vaughan chantry, 186, 188 ; Sacred
Heart shrine, 186 ; state apartments,
287 ; cathedral hall, 297 ; partner in
Bentley firm, 312 ; Warwick Street
Church, decorations, 451, 452 ; St.
Johns, Hammersmith, altar, 459 : St.
Thomas's Seminary, additions, 506
Martin, Miss, Westminster mosaics, 173
Mears & Stainbank, Westminster Cathedral
bell. 109
Memorial tablets, 629
INDEX
687
Meo, Gaetano, mosaics, Westminster
Cathedral
Metal-work, Bentley's success with, 555 ;
ecclesiastical, 5.")8 ; domestic, 569
Metcalfe, John Henry, professional connec-
tion with, 472, 474 ; stained glass for,
551
Meyer, Thomas, architect, 366
Minley Manor, 350
Mirror frames, 575
Monasteries, 499 ; St. Mary's, Clapham,
514
Monstrances, 376, 568
Montefiore, John, letter from Rome to,
30 ; as early friend and client, 357 ;
death, 672
— . Leonard, 662
Monuments and memorials, 627
Mosaics, Warwick Street Chiu-ch, 451 ;
Westminster Cathedral, q.v.
Mowlem & Co., and Westminster founda-
tions, 66
Moyes, Monsignor, Westminster mosaic
scheme, 230
Mullis, C. H., Westminster clerk of works,
74 ; Cardinal Vaughan's appreciation,
98 ; retirement, 98 ; on Bentley's
craftsmanship, 555
Muraline Factory, designs, 497
Murray, Mrs. Evelyn and Westminster
mosaic, 185
Naples, visit to, 32
New, Rev. F. C, and Westminster site
purcha.se, 15
Newcastle, Dowager Duchess of, altar
candlesticks for, 188
NichoU, S. J., stained glass for, 528 ;
Guild of SS. Gregory and Luke, 667
NichoUs, Rev. — , chalice for, 567
Norfolk, Duchess of, Westminster Tower
bell, 109
— , Duke of, at first stone-laying, 2 ;
cathedra] Pioneer, 14 ; suggested war
memorial, 194 ; Building Fimd Trustee,
262 ; communion rails for, 452 ; gift
of stained glass, 537
Northallerton Church, stained glass, 551
North Moreton Church, stained glass, 533
Gates, Austin, and Cathedral Building
Fund, 262
Oblates of St. Charles, foundation in
Bayswater, 366 ; influence on Bentley,
366 ; altar for, 590
O'Connor, Rev. John, as friend and client,
520, 610
O'Gorman, Rev. I., altar, Beaumont, 514
O'Hara, Peter, memorial, 618
O'Laverty, Rev. P., friendship with, 520
O'Neal, Canon, memorial window, 528
Opus sectile, Westminster Cathedral, 153,
154, 197 ; St. James's, Spanish Place,
596 ; St. Botolph's, Bishopsgate, 645
Organ cases, domestic, 580
■. position in Italian churches, 28 ;
Westminster Cathedral, 54, 136 ; St.
John's, Hammersmith, 460 ; ecclesiasti-
cal, 619
— factory, Brixton, 497
Osgathorpe Church, stained glass, 530
Om' Lady of Victories, Clapham. See
St. Mary's, Clapham
Our Lady's, Grove Road, stained glass, 528
— • — , Kensal, history, plan and structure,
402
Padua, visit to, 35
Page-Tiu-ner family, memorial glass, 537
Paris Exhibition, stained glass, 525
Parker, Miss, house, 478
Pastor-Cooper, Sir Charles, altar lamp for,
186
Patmore, Coventry, as client, 480 ; break
with, 483
Patterson, Bishop, and Westminster fund
collection, 10 ; archiepiscopal throne,
141
Paul's House, Taunton, chapel and addi-
tions, 460 ; stained glass, 532
Paul the Silentiary, on Santa Sophia, 119
Pavia, visit to, 27
Peek, Mrs., grave cross, 629]
Perry & Co., Westminster foundations,
66
Perugia, visit to, 33
Petre, Hon. H. W., and purchase of
Cathedral site, 15
— Lord and Westminster Cathedral site, 14
Phyffers, Theodore, friendship and influ-
ence of, 353 ; work in Houses of Parlia-
ment, 353 ; sculijture, St. Mary's, Cado-
gan Street, 381 ; work for Bentley, 391 ;
introduction of N. H. J. Westlake, 524
Piano cases, 574, 580
Pickhill Church, stained glass, 530
Pike, John, as client, 475
Pioneers, Westminster Cathedral, 14, 327
Pippet, Rev. A., anecdote of Bentley, 383
Pisa, visit to, 27 ; supposed influence of
Duomo on Cathedral design, 27, 220
Pius IX, requiem, 31
— X, message on Cathedral consecration,
322
Plate, ecclesiastical, 567
Pompeii, visit to, 32
688
INDEX
Poor Clares, Notting' Hill, throne and
tabernacle 589
Powell & Co., mosaLc at Westminster,
257
Power, George, altar, St. Mary's, Bays-
water, 446
Pownall, Rev. A., and Warwick Street
Church, 451
Poyer, Monsignor, and Cathedral Building
Fund, 262
Presbyteries, St. Francis's, NottingHill, 372;
St. Mary's, Cadogan Street, 401, 495 ;
Holy Rood, Watford, 433, 496 ; Farm
Street, abortive design, 494 ; St. Peter's,
Doncaster, 494 ; SS. Peter and Edward's,
Westminster, 495
Pugin, Edward W., Wiseman monument,
145 ; work at Carlton Towers, 485
Pulpits, Westminster Cathedral, marble,
125, 308 ; wooden, 126. St. Mary's,
Cadogan Street, 381 ; Christ Church,
Streatham, 390 ; various, 617
Purdue, W. A., in Bentley's circle, 354 ;
death, 672
Pyxes, 568
Radstock Church, altar lamp, 564
Ravenna, visit to, 34
Rawes, Rev. H. A. , friendship and influence,
358 ; Notting Hill, mission work, 367 ;
and F. S^ Aubyn's pupilage, 662
Raynes Park, house, 478
Redemptorists, Congregation of, friendship
with, 383, 452
— Monastery. See St. Mary's, Clapham
Redman, Rev. W. J., as client, 592
Reliquaries, Westmin-ter Cathedral, 144 ;
St. Charles Borromeo's, 446 ; silver gilt,
568
Rendel, Mrs., altar. Beaumont, 514
Reredos, St. Mary's, CoUaton, 390 ; St.
Augustine's, Northbourne, 392
Reynolds, W. Bainbridge, metal-work,
Westminster, 166
Richardson, Frederick R., candlesticks,
Westminster, 175
Richmond Cathedral, Va., abortive plans
for, 439
— Church, Yorks., stained glass, 531
— , Sir William, on mosaic technique,
253
Rimondi family, memorial window, 531
Rivaz, Sophia, memorial glass, 430, 549
Rivington, Rev. Luke, Westminster me-
morial to, 125
Rogers, Rev. William, and restoration, St.
Botolph's, Bishopsgate, 640 ; memorial
tablet, 647
Rome, visit to, 29 ; impressions of, 32
Rood, Watford, 428
— , hanging, St. Mary's, Cadogan Street,
401 ; Westminster Cathedral, 130
Ross, Robert, on Westminster mosaics, 250
Rowntree, meinorial window, 532
Royal Academy, Bentley as exhibitor, 349;
proposed election to, 669
— Institute of British architects, early
exhibits at, 348 ; award of Royal Gold
medal, 668
Russell, Wilfred Watts-, gravestone, 628
Rutson, Albert O., memorial screens, 639
Sacred Heart Church, Wimbledon, altar
rails, 562 ; Stations of the Cross, 618
St. Alphonsus's, Limerick, designs for
accessories, 610
St. Ambrogio's, Milan, as model for West-
minster choir, 60
St. Anne's, Brondesbury, organ case, 619
— , Leeds, pulpit, 617
St. Augustine's, Northbourne, reredos and
restoration, 392
St. Botolph's, Aldgate, stained glass, 541 ;
restoration, 632
— , Bishopsgate, electric light pendants,
566 ; restoration, 639
St. Charles Borromeo's , Ogle .Street, schools,
520 ; high altar, 586 ; Lady altar, 589
St. Clement's, Leeds, organ case, 622
St. Cuthbert's, Usliaw, Bentley's first
visit, 382 ; reliquary, 568 ; altar and
decorations, 610
St. Etheldreda's, Holborn, restoration,
screen and organ case, 649
St. Francis's, Notting Hill, early connection
with, 350 ; additions, 369 ; proposed
schools, 520 ; stained glass, 528 ; altar
rail, 560 ; candlesticks, 564 ; monstrance,
568
St. Gabriel's, Warwick Square, altar, 605
St. George's, Croydon, organ case, 619
— , Doncaster, Bentley's connection with
rebuilding, 336, 338 ; models, 337 ;
des ruction, 635
St. Giles's, Cripplegate, candlesticks, 564
St. Hilda's, S. Shields, organ case, 621
St. Irene's, Constantinople, comparison with
Westminster, 222
St. James's, Spanish Place, stained glass,
544 ; altar rails, 561 ; candlesticks, 565 ;
electric light standards, 566 ; history,
594 ; Bentley's connection with, 595 ;
high altar, 596 ; apse decoration, 597 ;
Lady Chapel altar, 599 ; Lady altar,
600; pedestal, 001; S. Heart altar,
602 ; St. Joseph's altar, 603
INDEX
689
St. John's, Beaumont. See under Schools,
Preparatory
— . Brentford, candlesticks, 565 ; high altar,
592 ; triptych and frame, 593 ; stained
glass, 594 ; screen and organ gallery, 594
— , Hammersmith, chapel and altar, 458 ;
altar rails, 562 ; organ case, 620
— , Old Cumnock, altar, reredos and screens,
608
— , Salford, organ case design, 623
— , Wilton Road, organ case, 620
— , Wonersh, organ case, 626
St. Luke's, Chiddingstone, plan and con-
struction, 433 ; altar rails, 562
— , West Norwood, mural decoration, 605
St. Marie's, Halifax, Lady altar, 386
— , Sheffield, stained glass, 531 ; organ case,
623
St. Mark's, 'Venice, Ongania's book, 35 ;
comparison with Westminster plan, 45
St. Mary's, Bayswater, building, 366 ;
structiu-al and decorative additions,
377, 441 ; chapels, Our Lady, 443 ;
the Relics, 444 ; Holy Ghost, 445 ; St.
Charles's, 446 ; Altars, Sacred Heart and
St. Joseph's, 447 ; stained glass, 525, 529,
539 ; grilles, 558
— , Cadogan Street, high altar and pulpit,
381 ; liistory,plan and construction, 396 ;
cost, 401 ; Lady shrine, 401, 604 ; presby-
tery, 401, 495 ; s ained glass, 529
— , Cholsey, pulpit, 617
— , Clapham, early work in, 383; history,
additions and decoration, 452 ; chapels.
Perpetual Succour, 453 ; St. Joseph's,
457; B. Gerard Magella's, 458; transept,
456; baptistery, 458; new monastery,
614 ; oratory, 519 ; stained glass, 538 ;
screens, 558 ; lamp, 564 ; altar crucifix,
565 ; tabernacles, 566, 567
— , Collaton, reredos and font, 390
— , Crook, high altar, 381
— . Horseferry Road, altar and church
furniture, 143, 590
— , Kensal New Town, history, plan and
structure, 402
— . Moorfields, as pro-Cathedral, 9 ; sale of,
269
— , Newcastle-on-Tyne, organ case, 621
— , Newington, S.E., organ case, 620
St. Mary's Orphanage, Blackheath. See
Schools, Elementary
St. Mary the Virgin s. Saffron Walden, organ
case, 623
St. Mary's, Westerham, font, 615 ; organ
case, 624
St. Oswald's, Old Swan, tabernacle, 366 ;
alterations, 384
St. Pancras's, Lewes, chalice, 567
St. Patrick's, Ballarat, stained gla.ss, 552 ;
gas standards, 566
— , Glasgow, organ case, 622
— , Liverpool, high altar, 384
St. Paul's Cathedral, candlesticks, 564 ;
altar cross, 565
— , Onslow Square, organ case, 620
St. Peter's, Doncaster, tabernacle door,
385 ; presbytery, 494 ; stained glass ,
551 ; communion rail, 561 ; high altar
and reredos, 607 ; font, 617
— , Rome, Bentley's criticism of, 30 ; re-
jected as model for Westminster plan,
214
— , Vauxhall, organ ease, 619
SS. Peter and Edward's, Westminster,
altar, 379 ; pi'esbytery, 495 ; tabemaclr,
566
SS. Sergius and Bacchus's, compared with
Westminster plan, 44
St. Sophia, constructional weaknesses, 215 ;
galleries as prototypes of Westminster
arcades, 219 ; speed of construction com-
pared with Westminster, 306
St. Stanislaus's College. See Beaumont
St. Stephen's, Norwich, organ case, 622
— , Wallbrook, suggested restoration, 632
St. Thomas's Seminary. See Seminary
St. Vincent de Paul Convent, Carlisle Place,
stained glass, 530
St. Vitale's, Ravenna, visit to, 34 ; com-
parison with Westminster plan, 44
St. Aubyn, Frank, articled to Bentley,
662
Sala, George Augustus, anecdote of, 29
Sandholme, Doncaster, alterations and
decorations, 492
Sargent, John S., R.A., approval of marble
paving, 129 ; suggestion for Westminster
Rood, 131 ; consulted on Westminster
mosaics, 228, 229 ; commission for
Chiddingstone Church, 433
Savile, Hon. G., gift of high altar, West-
minster, 141
Schools, elementary, 499 ; Notting Hill,
372 ; Watford, 433, 521 ; Ogle Street,
520 ; Blackheath Orphanage, 521 ;
Brixton, 521 ; Puckeridge, 521
— , Preparatory, St. John's, Beaumont,
school buildings, 507 ; opening ceremony,
508 ; chapel, 513 ; stained glass, 550 ;
altar lamp, 564 ; electric light pendants,
566 ; furniture, 579
Scott, Sir G. Gilbert, Bentley's connection
with, 338
Screens, church, metal, 558 ; wood, St.
Jolin's, Brentford, 594 ; Ely Place, 649
690
INDEX
Sears, John, as glass painter, 523
Seitz, Professor, design for Westminster
mosaic, 256
Seminary , Hammersmith, Bentley appointed
architect, 393 ; history and construction,
499 ; cost, 502 ; chapel, 503 ; q ad-
rangle, 505 ; foundation-stone, 506 ;
dedication, 506 ; later additions, 506 ;
refectory, 506
Seville, Archbishop of, and Westminster
Cathedral, 266
Shaw, Norman, R.A., visit to Westminster
Cathedral, 88 ; praise of Cathedral, 308
— , Rev. W. Hudson, and St. Botolph's,
Bishopsgate, 647
Sheffield Cemetery, stained glass, 531
— Corn Exchange, decoration, 498
— Gas Office, stained glass, 537
Sheldrake Brothers, and Westminster
Cathedral bells, 114
Shepton Beauchamp Church, stained glass,
545
Shillitoe & Sons, and cathedral building
contracts, 68, 85, 274
Sideboards, 579
Singer & Co., metalwork, Westminster
Cathedral, 146, 182, 188
Smith, Rev. Sydney, Westminster mosaic
scheme, 230
Snow.lenham, Gmldford, alterations and
cottages, 493
Sofas, designs for, 578
Spain. Queen of, and Westminster Cathe-
dral, 183
Spanish Place Church. See St. James's,
Spanish Place
Speyer, Dom Kirche, and Westminster
plan, 220
Spilsbury, F. M., a cathedral Pioneer, 14
Stabler, Harold, candlesticks for West-
minster Cathedral, 166
Stacey, John, as stained glass cartoonist, 523
Staff, pastoral. 569
Stained glass, style of early designs, 523
first period, 527 ; second period, 538
domestic, 537 ; in overseas churches
552 ; compared with Aldegrever's, 526
Examples : All Hallows, Harthill, 531
All Saints, Northallerton, 551 ; Ballarat
Cathedral, 552 ; Harrington, 532
Chilton, 536 ; Christ Church, Streatham
527 ; Collaton, 532 ; Corpus Christi
Brixton, 417, 541 ; East Garston, 536
Holy Rood, Watford, 546 ; Langford
Biidvillo, 535 ; North Moreton, 533
Our Lady's, Grove Road, 528 ; Pickhill
530 ; St. Botolph's, Aldgate, 541 ; St
Catherine's, W. Drayton, 532 ; St
Francis's, Notting Hill, 528 ; St. James's,
Spanish Place, 544 ; St. John's, Beau-
mont, 550 ; St. John's, Leeds, 530 ;
SS. Jolin and Francis's, Richmond, 531 ;
St. Marie's, Sheffield, 531 ; St. Mary's,
Bayswater, 525, 529, 539 ; St. Mary's,
Cadogan Street, 400, 529 ; St. Mary's,
Clapham, 538 ; St. Mary's, Osgathorpe,
530 ; St. Michael's, Blewbury, 544 ;
St. Michael's, Shepton Beauchamp, 545 ;
St. Paul's, Addlestone, 536 ; St. Peter's,
Doncaster, 551 ; St. Peter's, Drayton,
534 ; St. Vincent de Paul Convent, 530 ;
Sheffield cemetery, 531 ; Taunton Con-
vent, 532 ; Treeton, 531 ; Wath, 530 ;
Wensley, 532 ; Winterbourn Down, 535
Stanley, Bishop Algernon, friendship with,
31
Stations of the Cross, Westminster Cathe-
dral, 123, 129 ; Wimbledon, 618
Stonor, Archbishop, friendship with, 31
— , Charles J. , tabernacle for, 567 ; altar
and chapel accessories, 609
Stonyhurst College, memorial statue, 630
Strutt, Hon. R., fireplace, 569 ; bookcase,
580
Stuart, E. Maxwell, house at Ascot, 477
Sunnydene, Sydenham, plans and construc-
tion, 474 ; stained glass, 537
Sutton, W. R., house for, 474 ; commercial
buildings for, 496 ; furniture, 577
Swynnerton, Joseph W., naodels for Bramp-
ton tomb, 156
Sykes, Sir Tatton, Westminster Cathedral
building project, 14, 16
Symons, W. Christian, mosaics at West-
minster Cathedral, 185, 191, 229, 246,
256 ; opus sectile, Holy Souls' Chapel,
202 ; painted decoration, Westminster,
rood, 131 ; Sunnydene, 475 ; St.
Luke's, Norwood, 606 ; St. Botolph's,
Bishopsgate, 644 ; proposed Guild of
Christian Art, 666
Tabernacles, 566 ; St. Oswald's, Old Swan,
384 ; St. Peter's, Doncaster, 385 ; Poor
Clares Convent, 590
Tables, style favoured, 574 ; designs, 578
Tablet, The, Westminster Cathedral War
Memorial, 194 ; on Holy Souls' Chapel
mosaics, 198 ; Westminster mosaics,
232, 234, 243
Talbot, Monsignor, correspondence on
Westminster Cathedral site, 10
— . Rev. D. G., enlargement of Warwick
Street Church, 449
Tasker, Countess, as Cathedral Pioneer, 14
— , Mr., altar, St. Mary of the Angels', 446
INDEX
691
Taunton Convent. See Paul's House,
Taunton
Taylor, Chevallier, picture of altar, Spanish
Place, 601
Terry, Dr. R. R., as director of music,
Westminster, 302
Tet, Mr., clerk of works, Westminster, 274
Textiles, designs, 582
Thome, Mrs. Caroline, memorial tablet, 630
Thurston, Rev. Herbert, Westminster
mosaic scheme, 230
Tivoli Restaurant, decoration, 493
Torre Diaz, Coimt de, subscrbier to Cathe-
dral site, 15 ; donor. Lady altar, Spanish
Place, 599
Tothill Fields, purchase, 14 ; history, 17
Townley, Mrs., stained glass, Cadogan
Street, 400
Treeton Church, stained glass, 531
Triptychs, St. Mary's, Clap'uain, 455 ; St.
James's, Spanish Place, 600 ; Bishop
Eton, 609 ; Holy Name, Manchester, 614
Tuke, W. Murray, domestic work for, 490
Twigge, R. W., stained glass for, 530
Urquhart, F., Westminster mosaic scheme,
230
Ushaw School. See St. Cuthbert's, Ushaw.
Val de Travers Co., and Cathedral asphalt-
ing, 92
Van Doorne, Rev. H.. and Brixton Church
building, 407 ; on Guild of SS. Gregory
and Luke, 664
Vaughan, Cardinal, Westminster Cathedral,
— at first stone-laying, 4 ; conditions of
plan, 40 ; armorial bearings in, 105, 294 ;
chantry and monument in, 186 ; appeals
for, 259, 269 ; Building Fund, co-trustee
of, 262 ; pledge to carry on Bentley's
work in, 312 ; funeral, 314.
— Bentley's funeral oratinn, 680
— ,Rev. Bernard, as client of Bentley, 613
— . Rev. Edmund, friendship with, 383
— , Rev. Ke- elm, fund collection for B.
Sacrament Chapel, 183, 266 ; death, 184
Venice, visit to, 35
Verde Antico quarries, rediscovery of, 119
Vestments, designs for, 583
Vesuvius, expedition to, 32
Vigers, Robert, and purchase of West-
minster site, 15
Von Glehn, stained glass, 439
Von Hijgel, Baron A., domestic work for,
492 ; bookcases, 580
Wahlis, Rev. G., master of ceremonies,
Westminster, 301
Walker, Sir Andrew, yacht decoration for,
475, 494
— , Horace, stained glass for, 530
— , J. and S., stained glass for, 550
Wallpapers, designs, 582
Walmesley, Mrs. Robert, and Holy Souls'
Chapel, 197, 203
Walsh,W.Hussey,a subscriber to Cathedral
site, 15
Walshe, E. F. D., a subscriber to Cathedral
site, 15
Warde, Admiral Charles, memorial, 624
— , Colonel George, organ case for, 624
Wardrobes, designs, 581
Warehouse, Golden Lane, 496
Wareing, E. Vincent, on Westminster
campanile, 100
Warwick Street Church, history, enlarge-
ment and decoration, 448 ; Lady altar,
449 ; apse mosaics, 451
Wath Church, stained glass, 530
Watney, Mrs. Claude, marble work, West-
minster, 1 93
Weale, W. H. J., F.S.A., interest in Brixton
Church, 410; founder of SS. Gregory
and Luke's Guild, 664
Weir, W. S., decoration in Westminster
Cathedral, 163
Welby, Colonel, organ case for, 626
Weld, Baroness, a cathedral Pioneer, 14 ;
donor of Lady Chapel, 175
Weld-Blundell, Charles, projected chantry,
193 ; Westminster mosaic scheme, 231
— , T., as s\ibscriber to Citliedral site, 15
Wensley Church, stained glass, 532
West Drayton Chm-ch, stained glass, 532
Westlake, Fred, in Bentley's circle, 354
— , N. H. J., early friendship and collabora-
tion, 353 ; house for, 473 ; stained
glass, 523 ; decorative painting?, Paul's
House altar, 462 ; Beaimiont altar, 471 ;
Carlton Towers, 487 ; Lincoln's Inn, 493 ;
St. Francis's, Netting Hill, 373, 375,
377; St. Mary's, Cadogan Street, 381 ;
St. Mary of the Angels, 444, 447 ; high
altar. Ogle Street Church, 588
— , Philip, in Bentley's circle, 354 ; on
Guild of SS. Ciregory and Liike, 665
Westminster Cathedral, use of iron avoided,
88; a veneered building, 117; com-
pared with St. Mark's, 220, 222 ; time
in building, 306; popular name for, 308
Abutment, system of nave and transepts,
74 ; of 1. ast end, 81
Acoustics, test of, 312
Aisles, dimensions, 46 ; brick groining,
169
Altar, High, 141 ; absence of dossal, 49 ;
692
INDEX
Westminster Cathedral (continued) :
change in original design, 137 ; con-
secration, 319
Alters. Side: St. Peter's, 143; SS.
Gregory and Augustine's, 153 ; Lady
Chapel, 172 ; B. Sacrament, 178";
S. Heart, 185 ; St. Thomas of Canter-
bury'-, 187; S. Edmund, 144; S.
George's, 194; Holy Souls's, 196; sac-
risty, 206
Apse, plan, abutment, and vaulting, 83 ;
finial cross, 113; balconies, 133; in-
ternal details, 135
Arches, dimensions, 46 ; construction of
main transverse, 85 ; completion, 86
Architect, choice of, 20 ; frequent visits
of, 305
Articulation, solution of problem, 221
Asphalte, flat roofing, 92
Balconies, clerestory, 54 ; external
western, 104 ; apse, 133
Baldacchino, 1 igh : Itar, 49, 137 ; St.
Andrew's altar, 164 ; B. Sacrament
Chape], abandoned design, 179
Baptistery, exterior details, 105 ; interior
details, 149
Basement, arrangement of, 52
Bells, Edward, 109 ; Gabriel and Michael,
114
Blessed Sacrament Chapel. See under
Chapels
Bricks, for foundation, 66 ; fixed price
for brickwork, 69 ; testing and selec-
tion, 70 ; methods of pointing, 87, 98
Bridges, connecting, 112
Campanile, height, 45 ; altered position
of, 56 ; construction and details, 97 ;
finial cross, 97 ; completion, 98 ;
fenestration, 107 ; height compared
with Florence, 107 ; dedication to pat-
ron saint, 109 ; popular sobriquet, 308
Candlesticks, high altar, 141; St.
Andrew's altar, 166 ; Lady Chapel,
175; B. Sacrament altar, 180; Vaughan
chantry, 188
Capitals, designs and styles of external,
103 ; of internal, 122
Cement, mixing and age of, 90 ; for
mosaics, 149
Centering, for main arches, 85 ; for
domes, 87, 89, 92
Chancel. See Sanctuary
Chantries: Brampton, 152; Vaughan,
186 ; WalmesU y, 203
Cliapols : Bentley's designs for comple-
tion of, 148, 192 ; founders of, 329
Blessed Sacrament, plan, 51 ; external
details, 112; marble decoration.
Westminster Cathedral {continued) :
Chiipels {continued) :
176 ; altar and canopy, 178 ; fene-
stration, 176: pavement, 180; screen,
181 ; electric lighting, 182 ; fund
collection for, 183, 266
Holy Souls', marble work, 195 ; altar,
196 ; mosaics, Bentley's suggestions,
247 ; criticisms, 251 ; donor, 203
Lady Chapel, plan, 51 ; fenestration,
114; dimensions, 170; marble
work, 170 ; electric lighting, 174 ;
candlesticks and crucifix, 175 ;
opening ceremony, 175 ; mosaic
decoration, Bentley's scheme for
altar-piece, 174 ; Father Bridgett's
decorative scheme, 225, 245 ;
Bentley's scheme, 243
Sacred Heart and St. Michael's, marble
work, 184 ; mosaics, 185 ; altar
lamp, 186 ; donors, 185
St. Andrew and the Scottish Saints',
163 ; stalls, 166
St. Edmund's, 143
St. George and the English Martyrs',
193 ; war memorial, 194
SS. Gregory and St. Augustine's, 152 ;
opus sectile, 154, 155
St. Joseph's, 193 ; Bentley's designs for,
193
St. Patrick and the Saints of Ireland's,
162
St. Paul's, 168
St. Thomas of Canterbury's, 186 ;
screens, 188 ; suggested decoration
by Mr. Garner, 189
Chapter Hall. See Westminster Cathe-
dral Hall
Choir, plan, 49 ; dimensions, 51 ; criti-
cism of, 58 ; defence of, 59 ; exterior
details, 113
Choir school, foundation and organisa-
tion, 301
CipoUino, cohunns, 120 : quarries, re-
discovery, 120
Clerestory, arrangement of, 54
Clergy-house, 304
Columns, internal, 95 ; of i arthex, 118
of nave, origin and history, 119
of sanctuary, 132 ; donors of, 329
of baldacchino, 138
Communion rail, 182
Competition, suggested for designs, 21
Concrete, foundations, composition and
testing, 64; domes, compositionandtestr
ing, 90 ; vaulting, reasons for use of, 94
Confessionals, 151
Consecration, crosses, 169 ; ceremony, 317
INDEX
693
Westminster Cathedral (continued) :
Contractor.--, foundations, 66; builders,
68, 274 ; stoiiis, 72 ; asphalt, 92 ;
woodwork, 103, 206, 294 ; bells, 109,
114; metal work. 109, 113, 146, 182 ;
sculpture, 123 ; marble work, 138,
139, 151, 160, 166, 194, 202; mosaics,
162, 191, 202, 257
Coronae, electric, 130
Counterforts, dimensions and character
of, 76
Cross, 1 anging, 130
Crypt, plan, 51 ; structural completion,
tion, 96 ; external details, 113; internal
details and deroration, 143 ; marble
work designs, 147
Decoration, Bentley's typical chapel
scheme, 192 : proposed committee,
228
Dimensions, internal, 46; domes, 5-),
90, 91 ; external, 56 ; piers, 76 ; com-
parative, 332
Domes, of r.ave, height, 46 ; method
of support, 81 ; construction, 88 ;
weight, 90 ; dimension and structure,
91 ; external covering, 91 ; ventilation,
91 ; of sanctuary, dimensions and
structure, 92 ; comparison with nave,
92 ; of campanile, 97 ; Bentley's
objection to great central, 214 ; com-
parison with St. Sophia, 219
Doors, material and details, 102 ; varia-
tion from Bentley's design, 106
Doorways, west, completion of, 96 ;
detaUs and dimensions, 101 ; north-
west, details, 106 ; north transept,
details. 111 ; south transept, 114
Drainage, roof, 83, 93, 111
Eaves gallery, details. 113
Facade, alteration of, 57 ; details and
dimensions, 100
Fenestration, scheme, 54 ; solution of
problem, 220
Finance, 259 ; European contributions,
10 ; method and rate of expenditure,
64, 69, 84 : appeals for funds, 260,
265, 267, 269, 317 ; opening of bank
account, 262
Floor, wood, 134 ; marble. See Pavement
Font, design, 150 ; execution, 151
Foundations, excavation, 63 ; dimen-
sions, 64 ; materials, 64
Foundation-stone, laying, 1 ; donors of, 2
Founders, bronze tablets, to, 261 ; p' ivi-
leges of, 261 ; hst, 327
Fundadores del Sagrario, 266
Galleries, clerestory, 54 ; triforiimi, 54 ;
choir, 83 ; internal construction and
Westminster Cathedral (continued) ;
completion, 95 ; apse, 1 13 ; sanctuary,
external, 114
Glazing, 56, 96
Girders, avoidance of, 88
Grilles. See Screens
Heating, 52
Inscription, dedicatory, 104
Joan of Arc mosaic, 191, 250
Labour troubles, 68, 78
Lattices, terra-cotta, construction anil
glazing, 96
Lead-work, 107
Library, 293 ; bookcases, 294
Light crosses, 186
Lighting, architects' views on, 56 ; elec-
tric, 130, 182
Loggia, main entrance, 104 ; N.W.
porch, 107 ; N. transept, 112
Marble decoration, discovery of ancient
quarries, 119. See also under Colvaans
— j'avement. See Pavement
Metal-work, sparing use in construction,
78, 88, 95; finial crosses, 97, 113;
door ornaments, 102 ; screens, 181, 188
Mortar, composition, 72
Mosaic decoration, west tympanum,
Bentley's design, 102, 257 ; other
designs, 256; laldicchino ornament,
140 ; St. Edmund, 144 ; SS. Gregory
and Augustine's Chapel, 158 ; Mr.
Clayton's technique, 161 ; St. Andrew's
Chapel, 165 ; Lady Chapel reredos,
173 ; schemes, 243, 245 ; Holy Face
panel, 185 ; Sacred Heart Chapel, 185 ;
Joan of Arc panel, 191, 250 ; Holy
Souls' Chapel, 198; B'litley's view on
general scheme, 224 ; consultations
on, 228 ; submission of schemes, 229 ;
style, 247 ; technique, 248 ; materials,
249 ; comparative technique in chapels.
252 ; Sir VV. Richmond's views, 252
Narthex, internal details, 118
Nave, dimension-, 46; internal details,
119; marble work, designs, 123;
cost, 124
Opening, delay.-, 84, 269 ; ceremony, 317 ;
Orient tion, reason for incorrect, 57 ;
criticism of, 58
Pavement, narthex, 118; marble, 126;
abandonment in nave, 128 ; sanctuary,
135 ; baptistery, 151 ; SS. Gregory and
Augustine's Chapel, 155; St. Andrew's
Chapel, 163 ; B. Sacrament Chapel,
180 ; Holy Souls' Chapel, 196 ;
Bentley's designs, 308
Pendentives, construction of, 85
Pioneers, 14, 327
694
INDEX
Westminster Cathedral (continued) :
Plan, Glutton's Gothic plan, 11 ; objec-
tion to 1 asilica type, 25 ; require-
ments of, 37 ; Bentley's first plan, 37 ;
second, 40; final, 43; conditions laid
down, 40; copies in Vatican, 62 ; com-
pared with Byzantine models, 215 ;
objection to Centralbau type, 215
Porches, N.W., 106, 203 ; north transept,
111
Prebendaries, appointment of, 303
Pulpits, 125, 126, 308
Registry, 203
Reliquaries, crypt, 144
Rood, hanging, 130
Roof, drainage, 83, 93 ; characteristic
variety, in, 94
Sacristi s, dimensions and plan, 51, 52 ;
details, 204 ; j resses, 206
Sanctuary, arrange it nt and dimensions,
49; external details, 112 ; marble de-
coration, 131, 134, 137 ; alteration in
plan 61, 134; compared with St.
Sophia, 219
Screens, B. Sacrament Chapel, 181 ;
Vaughan chantry, 188 ; Holy Souls'
Chapel, 202
Sculpture, bas-reliefs, 103, 164 ; capitals,
122
Site, acquisition, first, 8 ; second, 11 ;
Chelsea cemetery as proposed, 10 ;
purchase of actual, 14
Staircase, i ast end, 48, 51 ; material
and construction, 87 ; of campanile,
203
Stalls, gift of antique, 142 ; Bentley's
designs, 143
Stations of the Cross, designs, 129 ;
donors, 331
Statues, St. Peter, 125 ; St. John the
Baptist, 151 ; Sacred Heart, 185
Store rooms, 52
Tabernacle, 179 ; wedding-rings for, 180
Terra-cotta work, 9i)
Throne, altar, 180
— , archiepiscopal, details, 141 ; canopy,
142 ; Bentley's views on, 308
Timber, sparing use of, 88 ; external
work, 107
Transept, dimensions, 48; counterfr rts,
76 ; columns, 120 ; interior detail of
south, 169 ; internal details of north,
191 ; Bentley's objection to open,
214 ; arrangement compared with
St. Mark's, 222
Tribune, arrangement, 52 ; dimensions,
54 ; external details, 104
Triforium, 54
'Westminster Cathedral (continued) :
Triptych, St. Paul, 168
Trustees, 262
Turrets, variations in designs, 105
Tympaniun, of west facade, 256 : of
Cathedral Hall, 299
Vaulting, varying use of brick and
concrete, 94
Ventilation of domes, 91
Vestment presses, 206
Walls, thickness of, 78 ; veneered con-
struction of, 117
War memorial, 194
Windows. See Fenestration and Glaz-
ing
Westminster Cathedral Chronicle, publica-
tion of, 42
Westminster Cathedral Hall, plan and
details, 296 ; decoration, 297 ; as
temporary chapel, 300
Westminster Cathedral Record, first publica-
tion, 42 ; in Vatican Library, 62 ;
merged in Tablet, 265
Westminster Land Company, formation
and function of, 15
Whelan, Bernard, appreciation of bap-
tistery, 105 ; of campanile, 108
Whitaker, John A., cabinet for, 580 ;
tombstone, 628
White, Canon J., and purchase of Bentley's
portrait, 204
Whitehead & Sons, marble-work by, 160,
202
" Widowers' children," 367
Wilkinson, Bishop, as friend and client,
382 ; chalice, 568 ; pastoral staff and
cross, 569
Willement, Thomas, F.S.A., friendship and
influence of, 353
Williams, Allena, memorial, 605
Wills family, memorial glass, 552
Willson, 'T. J., early friendship, 353 j
stained glass for, 531
Wimbledon, houses, 478, 479
Winslow & Holland, apprenticeship to
341
Winterbourn Down Church, stained glass,
535
Wiseman, Cardinal, Cathedral as memorial,
8 ; tomb, 144 ; translation of, 145 r
friendship and influence of, 360
Wren, Rev. J. J., memorial glass to, 532
Yacht, decoration, 494
Yard, Major Frederick, friendship with,
656
— , Rev. G. B., memorial altar, 447 ; monu-
ment, 628
Primed by Hasell, Watson & Vinty, Ld., London and Ayhsbury, England.
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