Bell's Cathedrals: Southwark Cathedral Part 2

At their first meeting on the subject (24th January) the vestrymen endorsed the proposal of the Bridge Committee by a large majority. At a subsequent meeting, held within a week, public opinion had been aroused on the subject, and the majority was reduced to three. The moral victory for the Church and Borough of Southwark, headed by Bishop Sumner, was secured by the poll there and then demanded, the result of which was announced, in two days' time, as: "For the retention of the building, 380; against, 140; majority for the retention, 240."

The retro-choir was saved, and Mr. Gwilt completed the good work by restoring it, giving his services gratuitously. The nave had been already doomed. It had got into such a ruinous state by 1831 that at a Vestry Meeting holden on the 3rd, and confirmed on the 10th, of May, it was resolved:

"That the whole of the roof, from the western door to the west end of the tower, called the nave, consisting of ceiling, roof, walls, and pillars, as far as dangerous, be sold and cleared away; the remainder of the walls, pillars, and family vaults to be left open to the weather. And that the choir, north and south transepts, be enclosed, to the eastern part of the church, for divine service; and that the pews, situated in the nave, be removed into such part, for the accommodation of the inhabitants."

In 1838 the nave, having been sufficiently operated on by the climate and other destructive forces, was taken down; and in the following year the foundation stone of a mean and flimsy subst.i.tute, in the "Gothic" of the period, was laid by Dr. Sumner, then Bishop of Winchester. The interior, thus limited and reduced, was fitted up with timber staircases, wainscoting, galleries, high pews, and a "three-decker" pulpit, which answered the double purpose of obscuring the sanctuary and enabling the preacher to command his audience in the galleries.

The barbarous result did not escape the sensitive eye of Mr. A.W.

Pugin, the great Gothic revivalist, who gave vent to his indignation in a scathing article in the "Dublin Review." He said:

"It may not be amiss to draw public attention to the atrocities that have lately been perpetrated in the venerable church of St. Saviour's, Southwark. But a few years since it was one of the most perfect second-cla.s.s cruciform churches in England, and an edifice full of the most interesting a.s.sociations connected with the ancient history of the Metropolis. The roof was first stripped off its ma.s.sive and solemn nave; in this state it was left a considerable time, exposed to all the injuries of wet and weather; at length it was condemned to be pulled down, and in place of one of the finest specimens of ecclesiastical architecture left in London--with ma.s.sive walls and pillars, deeply moulded arches, a most interesting south porch, and a splendid western doorway--we have as vile a preaching-place ... as ever disgraced the nineteenth century.

"It is bad enough to see such an erection spring up at all, but when a venerable building is demolished to make way for it, the case is quite intolerable. Will it be believed that, under the centre tower, in the transepts of this once most beauteous church, _staircases on stilts_ have been set up, exactly resembling those by which the company ascend to a booth or race-course?... Nothing but the preaching-house system could have brought such utter desolation on a stately church; in fact, the abomination is so great that it must be seen to be credited."

Strange as it may appear, the seating accommodation under this arrangement was even greater than it is at present, and the congregations at the Sunday services were almost as large as they are to-day. It would be quite wrong, therefore, to suppose that no religious work was going on in the parish. But beyond the paris.h.i.+oners, and the few antiquaries who visited the church from time to time, it was scarcely known to the outside world, except when the bells rang out the old year on the 31st of December, or when a dismal light in the windows proclaimed the Christmas distribution of bread, coals, and blankets to the poor of the neighbourhood.

It was impossible, however, that an edifice with the history and a.s.sociations of St. Saviour's, should escape the religious and artistic revival of which the Oxford movement was the cause or the outcome; and the restoration of this fine church to its original beauty, and more than its original usefulness, has followed almost as a matter of course. The scheme for its restoration, although in the air for some time previously, began to take a definite shape in 1877, when St. Saviour's, Southwark, with other South London parishes, was transferred from the diocese of Winchester to Rochester. Dr. Anthony Wilson Thorold was appointed to the See of Rochester in the same year, and very soon lent his full energies to the work. In 1889 a meeting of the chief paris.h.i.+oners was summoned to inaugurate the scheme, and a subscription list was at once opened, headed by his Lords.h.i.+p with 1,000. An appeal to the public was immediately issued, and was generously responded to by great and small. Among the larger donations may be mentioned the sum of 5,000 from Lord Llangattock, 2,000 from Messrs. Barclay, Perkins and Co., with several gifts of 1,000 each from Sir Frederick Wigan and others. These large amounts were supplemented by the equally acceptable offerings of humbler people, for which collections were made at numerous churches within and without the diocese. Perhaps the most important of these, in a money sense, was that at a Masonic Service, held in the Collegiate Church itself on Ascension Day, which yielded over 2,000. On 3rd November, Bishop Thorold preached at St. Saviour's on behalf of the fund, and in the same month Sir Arthur Blomfield was chosen as architect for the restoration. The miserable structure of 1839 was at once swept away, and on 24th July, 1890, King Edward VII, then Prince of Wales, laid the foundation stone of the new nave. It was completed within seven years by Messrs. T.F. Rider and Sons after the design of Sir Arthur Blomfield. Guided throughout by the remains of the old work, and many existing drawings of the ancient nave, as a whole, and in its separate details, the architect has succeeded in a practical reproduction of the original building.[12] The erection, with other reparatory work, was accomplished at a cost of over 40,000; but he who had initiated it was not spared to witness its completion. Shortly after its commencement, Bishop Thorold was transferred from Rochester to Winchester, and died in the summer of 1895.

His successor in the See of Rochester, Dr. Randall Thomas Davidson (appointed in 1891), did not allow the work to flag under his administration, which came to an end with the death of Dr. Thorold in 1895. The episcopal changes then made resulted in the translation of Dr. Davidson to the See of Winchester, and the appointment of Dr.

Edward Stuart Talbot to Rochester. By a happy coincidence, the parish church at Leeds, from which he was transferred, bore the same dedication as that of the Collegiate Church whose completion it was his good fortune to celebrate.

On Tuesday, 16th February, 1897, the building was reopened after restoration, and reinstated in its position as a Collegiate Church, with the added dignity of a pro-Cathedral, in antic.i.p.ation of its becoming the Cathedral Church of the new diocese of Southwark already in view.

The Collegiate Chapter was formed by Statutes promulgated by the Bishop of Rochester in February, 1897. The following were the members of that body immediately before the changes consequent on the formation of the new diocese:

_Dean_:

The Lord Bishop of Rochester, the Rt. Rev. Edward Stuart Talbot.

_Sub-Dean_:

The Lord Bishop of Southwark, the Rt. Rev. Huyshe Yeatman-Biggs.

_Canons_:

Rev. William Thompson, D.D. _Chancellor._ The Archdeacon of Southwark (Ven. S.M. Taylor, M.A.) _Precentor._ Rev. R. Rhodes Bristow, M.A. _Canon Missioner._ Rev. Allen Edwards, M.A.

_Lay Members of the Chapter_:

Sir Frederick Wigan, Bart. _Treasurer._ W.A. Bell, Esq. _a.s.sistant Treasurer._ J.T. Scriven, Esq. _The Warden of the Great Account._ George Newton, Esq. _The Rector's Warden._

_Other Officers_:

Rev. W.A. Chaplin, M.A., Mus. Bac. _Succentor and Sacrist._ A. Madeley Richardson, Esq., M.A., Mus. Doc., Oxon. _Organist and Director of the Choir._ Rev. J.H. Greig, M.A. _Librarian._ A.W. Dodwell Moore, Esq. _Chapter Clerk._ Mr. Hutching and Mr. Spice. _Vergers._ Mr. Coombes. _Chapter House Verger._

The Collegiate Church and Chapter, being dependent on voluntary contributions for their maintenance, a fund was raised which a.s.sured a sum of about 2,000 per annum for all purposes for five years. As that period has already expired, a like sum has again to be secured. It may be added that this fund does not suffice to meet the expenses incurred by the daily choral Evensong, which was started in June, 1899. The contributions received for this purpose ("The Daily Choral Service Fund") have hitherto been just sufficient, and it is hoped that by help from a somewhat wider circle of those interested in the efficiency of the Collegiate Church, this service, which has been increasingly appreciated, will not have to be discontinued. The Treasurers are the Bishop of Southwark and the Precentor.

A Collegiate House has also been purchased, in which the unmarried members of the Chapter may reside as well as the Collegiate body. The latter consists of clergy in Priest's Orders, who undertake to place themselves at the disposal of the Bishop for work in connection with the diocese or Collegiate Church.

A valuable addition has been made to the Collegiate buildings in view of the elevation of the church to the rank of a cathedral. The old church of St. Thomas, adjoining the Collegiate House, which would have been pulled down, has been saved and turned into a Chapter House. It serves for diocesan meetings, and will hold about 400 people. It is connected by a corridor with the Foster Hall of the Collegiate House, and thus forms a convenient series of rooms for large or small conferences. It is a plain red brick building, with stone dressings, at the west end of which is a three-storied tower of the same materials. The ground floor of the tower forms the porch. Entering by this way we find ourselves in a lofty oblong hall, about 60 feet by 30, with a gallery on the north and west, and the altar-piece before us at the east end, shut in by a wooden part.i.tion, in front of which stand two chairs--one for the Bishop, the other for his Suffragan. The history of the present building dates from 1702, when it was erected on a monastic foundation, the funds being provided by a grant of 3,000--out of the coal dues, pursuant to a Statute of William and Mary, the Governors of St. Thomas's Hospital providing the balance.

The date is given on the central panel of the old pulpit, which is preserved, in reduced form, as a reading desk. Both this and the altar-piece are made of oak. The altar-piece is rather a fine specimen of wood-carving in the Corinthian style, with the usual tables for the Creed, etc. (now blank) between two pilasters, surmounted by the arms of George I. The old pews were demolished, as no longer required, when the church was transformed into a Chapter House, but the fine grained oak of which they were made was turned to account for doors and panelling. Below all this there is a crypt, of much earlier date, which now answers the purpose of a refreshment department on special occasions.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Photo._ _G.P. Heisch._ THE CHAPTER HOUSE.

_Formerly the Church of St. Thomas._]

Behind the eastern wall a smaller hall has been erected between the Chapter House and the adjacent Collegiate House. This serves the double purpose of a vestibule and a place for smaller gatherings. The generous donor wishes to remain anonymous, but is partially revealed in a tablet over the fireplace, which says:

"As a Thank-offering for many blessings during a long life, a merchant of the City of London constructed this Meeting Hall, and munificently contributed to the purchase of the Collegiate House of St. Saviour, Southwark, Sep 4, 1898," surmounted by his arms and the legend "Watch and be ready."

A library, already consisting of several hundred volumes, is being formed in the Chapter House, for the use of the clergy and licensed Readers of the diocese--in addition to the Collegiate Library proper, which at present is kept in the same place.

With all its advantages, the present Chapter House is acknowledged to be an unworthy representative of the original, as being at an inconvenient distance from the Cathedral, and out of character with it in design. Unfortunately no trace of the old house, or of its exact site, is left to us. The Cloisters and the College, or Priory, are known to have been on the north, the Prior's residence at the north-west angle of the Cloisters, and the Refectory at the north-east end. The whole formed a splendid group of buildings and covered a large area, bounded on the north by the Thames; on the south by the church and churchyard; on the east by the "Bishop's Chapel," with a wall beyond it (at about the distance of the present roadway); and on the west by a small creek (St. Saviour's dock), beyond which lay the Bishop of Winchester's palace and garden.

By an instrument dated 15th July, 1545, the whole of the Priory lands were made over to Sir Anthony Browne, Knt., in the following comprehensive terms: "Totum situm septum circuitum ambitum et precinctum nuper Monasterii sive Prioratus beate Mariae Overey in Com.

Surr."

The work of demolition dates from that time, and the old buildings have gradually disappeared to make way for the modern wharves and warehouses which have since occupied the ground. The finis.h.i.+ng strokes were put to the destruction during the first half of 1835, when Mr.

E.J. Carlos, the archaeologist, visited the ruins, and describes them as then showing "scarcely one stone upon another." They had previously been visited by another antiquary (Mr. John Carter) in 1797 and 1808, when there was a little more to be seen. Both gentlemen gave their experience in the pages of the "Gentleman's Magazine," with a conjectural description of the group of buildings as it had been, contrasted with the desolation they then witnessed. (_See_ the "Gentleman's Magazine" for 1808 and 1835.)

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE CATHEDRAL FROM THE EAST.

_Reproduced from a drawing by Mr. Hedley Fitton, by permission of the "Daily Chronicle."_]

FOOTNOTES:

[1] See a paper read before the Society of Antiquaries, in 1833, by Mr.

A.J. Kempe.

[2] Burnham-Overy, in Norfolk, and Barton-Overy, in Leicesters.h.i.+re, show that the suffix is not peculiar to St. Mary's, Southwark.

[3] It may be well to explain that a "Collegiate Church" takes its name from the _Collegium_, or collected body of priests, attached to it, who were called "Secular Canons" in distinction from the "Regular Canons"

of a monastery. The latter were monks who had been admitted to Holy Orders, but still continued in obedience to the rule (_regulus_) of the foundation to which they belonged. The Seculars were more or less like our parochial clergy in that they were subject to no such regulation, lived and moved without restraint among the people, and in early days were not infrequently married. Until the time of Pope Gregory VII (1073-1085), the celibacy of the extra-monastic clergy was not at all generally insisted on. Even after the twelfth century, when greater strictness had been enforced by the first and second Lateran Councils, the marriage of the secular clergy was frequently connived at by their superiors, who even tolerated a system of concubinage which they were unable to prevent--_propter duritiem cordis_--by which a law of nature was provided for, in defiance of the law ecclesiastical. The question was finally settled by the Council of Trent in 1563, since when the celibate rule has generally been strictly observed in the Roman Church.

The absence of such a rule in the Church of England is, of course, due to the Reformation.

With very few exceptions the English "Colleges" were suppressed by an Act of 1545. The name seems to have clung to St. Saviour's through all its subsequent changes, rather by old a.s.sociation than as having any practical value, till the collegiate character, as well as the t.i.tle, was formally restored to it in 1897 by Dr. Talbot, then Bishop of Rochester.

[4] The dedication of the hospital was altered to "St.

Thomas-the-Apostle," in 1540, when the official t.i.tle of the church was changed to St. Saviour. To make way for the line of railway between London Bridge and Charing Cross, a wing of the hospital had to be pulled down, and the whole was transferred to the Albert Embankment, where the new buildings were opened by Her late Majesty Queen Victoria in 1871.

[5] In 1900 the number of churchwardens was reduced to five, of whom two only discharge ecclesiastical duties.

[6] That the vestrymen were not indifferent to creature comforts is shown by an entry in their records for 5th April, 1569, from which it appears that it was their wont to eat a calf's head pie in the vestry in celebration of Easter. The luxury was supplemented in 1600-1607 by the gift of a buck and 20_s._ from Sir Edward Dyer, to provide an entertainment for the vestrymen and their wives at the same season. On the other hand, they were not allowed to have it all their own way, for a resolution of 25th April, 1569, prohibits more than one of them from speaking at once, under a penalty of 4_d._, and imposes a fine of 2_s._ 6_d._ for irreverent behaviour in the vestry. They were also required to wear their gowns in the vestry, and to attend the funeral of any of their _confreres_, or their wives (if desired), under a penalty of 4_d._ It is fair to add that they were alive to their responsibilities as they understood them, _e.g._, on 3rd March, 1571, they gave the clerk warning, and appointed another in his place who was "a good ba.s.s and tenor," at a salary of 1 6_s._ 8_d._, "that the choir might be better served."

[7] The viscera of his successor, Bishop Horne, are also said to have been buried at St. Mary's in 1579.