138 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



[Mat, 



rood-screen is lacking licie, as in every oilier modern London cliurcli. TIic 

 organ is placed in (lie north transept, greatly elioUiii(r it ui>. Thcendttin- 

 dows of tlie soutli transept, and ot llie nave arc filled wiili stained j^lass. The 

 pulpit stands against the north-west pier of the lantern, and is not too high. 

 It is of wood, panelled with porcelain, enamelle I with sacred edigies on a 

 gold ground. This is a very good idea, and one perfectly Iciritiinale. although 

 modern ; porcelain indeed is a species of enamel painting. In this case, how- 

 ever, the conception has surpassed the execution. The prayer and leston- 

 desks, which are opposite the pulpit, are not satisfactrry. The jiiers of the 

 nave, which are alternately circular and octagonal, stand upon blocks, to 

 raise them above the seats, and the seats, though all open, are very unsatis- 

 factory, from adopting the invidious distinction of having two side rows of 

 ' (jiiality' sittings, and a very broad open area between, filled up with inferior 

 seats for the Church's especial and dearest charge, the poor. The genieel 

 seats have stall-ends, carved by Mr. Pratt's neivly invented machine. We 

 do not like them ; they are heavy and tame. The roofs are open, and of a 

 good pitch. The font is incorrectly placed, being directly opposite the west 

 door, and is of insignificant dimensions considering the size of the church, 

 besides which it wants a canopy, and a base to stand upon. The west win- 

 dow is rather weak. ^Ve are a good deal amused at the galleries (for the 

 church contains galleries), because in the first place they are the least ollen- 

 sive galleries we have ever seen, and in the second place because they have 

 purchased this inoffensiveness at the ccpenseof a great part of their practical 

 utility, that of holding people. They nestle behind the (liers of the nave, at 

 some distance from them. The internal walls of the church are plaislered, 

 and there is a raised platform in the south transept which might as well 

 have been spared. Externally the roofs arc of a good pitch, and the spire is 

 lofty, so that the church has an im(iosing apiicarance, though too much that 

 of a cathedral in miniature. The tower spire and north porch labour under 

 an excess of orn.inient, the residt of which in the end is only to diminish the 

 general effect of the church. The worst fault however of the church remains 

 to be told, that it has got a show side. The north side, from facing the street, 

 is much more elaborately decorated than the opposite one ; the clerestory, 

 e. g; on this side is arcaded of three, and on the other is shnply pierced, and 

 the south porch is wonderfully subdued, compared with the other. "\Vc need 

 not say how much we disapprove of such an attempt at display. However 

 we flatter ourselves that it has defeated its own object, and that the south 

 side, from its greater sobriety, is in truth the more pleasing composition. 

 After all, however, no one can help being much pleased at so noble and, con- 

 sidering all things, so complete an attempt at belter things, raised in the 

 same town, and during the life-time of the same generation which saw the 

 building of St. Pancras, St. Marj-lebone, and All Souls. 



: " In the adjoining parish of Dulwich is another church, which exhibits a 

 great struggle after the realization of ecclesiastical decency and magnificence, 

 w/iiV/i h as creilitahh' to its projectors as it is lamentable to beliold how they 

 have been in a great measure frustrated by the incompetency of their archi- 

 tect. We mean Si. Paul's, Ha-ne Hill. This church consists of a west lower 

 and spire, nave and aisles, north porch, and cliancel without aisles, of the 

 Third Pointed style. The altar is of stone, and of the correct shape, a slab 

 on legs; the different roofs, and the spandrils of the nave arches are all 

 covered with enrichment; and every window in the church, including the 

 clerestory (with one exception, which we fancy we see the reason for, and 

 that it will be soon remedied), is filled with stained glass : and all the chan- 

 cel, and part of the nave is ('.) laid with coloured tiles ; the pulpit of stone, with 

 porcelain panels, stands at the north-cast angle of the nave, and all the seats 

 look east, and are very low. Who does not warm at this description ? But 

 unhappily in many respects the intention, not the execution is to be praised. 

 The stained glass particularly is of a cold anil unarlistic character, and tlie 

 side windows are heraldic, with cyphers of the l)enef:iclors of the church, 

 which IS not the most appropriate decoration for tlie Lord's House. The east 

 window, uiliich is scrititiiral, is very unsatisfactory, and the rcredos is poor, 

 and there arc altar chairs as in the church of St. Giles'. The tiles and porce- 

 lain are the gift of the same munificent individual who presented similar or- 

 naments to St. Giles'. We wish they had a more ecclesiastical character. 

 The chancel is far too short in proportion to the nave, anrl the roofs are of a 

 very low pilch. Externally the design is miserable ; the roof is surmounted 

 with a very poor battlement, broken with a row of the poorest pinnacles, 

 such as those to be seen on the frontispiece of Mr. Pugin's Contrasts, and in 

 plasterers' shops in the suburbs, and al'ernately tall and short, the latter 

 standing without any apparent reason in the centre of each bay. The west 

 end, and more particularly the door, are contemptible. We are really pained 

 to have to use such language about a structure, which is clearly the iruit of 

 much liberality. 



" Christ Church, Beltou Street, in the parish of St. Giles-in-thc-Fields, con- 

 sists of a nave, aisles, and very short chancel, north-west engaged tower, 

 with stone broach, and clerestory to nave. The style is First Pointed ; and 

 at the eastern! is a triplet, which however, from the cramped dimensions of 

 the site, only receives light through a wall cut in the adjoining workhouse, 

 iihose proximity cramps the chance', and indeed the whole church. The 



reiedos is arcaded, and the chancel is to be bounded by parc'oses, though 

 destitute of screen. There are galleries. All the seats however are to be 

 open, and the roof is of a fair pitch. The piers, which are octagonal and 

 made of blue lias, are (we observe with satisfaction,) not stilted. Externally 

 however there are faults to be found. The west window consists of five 

 lights, the central one raised above the others, which are of the same height. 

 From the comparative uselessness of the east window, and tlie south aisle 

 being destitute of light, it w,as doubtless necessary to Ihro'v as much in at 

 the west window as needful, tho'igh at the same time we think they have 

 made the west end unnecessarily glaring, otherwise we cannol>at all approve 

 of this arrangement at the west end of a small church, which has only a 

 triplet for its eastern light. The west door, which is Irefoiled, looks strange 

 and overdone. The tower is too thin, and the north door, which it contain.i, 

 is not well managed. The spire however, taken by itself, is of elegant pro- 

 portion. The clerestory and aisle windows are rather long and bare. Great 

 allowances must be made for the confined extent of the ground on whicli it 

 was necessary to build the church, which makes it, esptcially as it is rather 

 lofty, look rather humped externally. We think the architect might have 

 derived some useful notions from foreign town churches, remarkable as they 

 are for their height, in the treatment of this subject, without of course, vitiat- 

 ing the strict form of Englisli Pointed." 



SUGGTCSTIONS FOR FORMING A MUSKUM OF CASTS OF THE 

 ARCHlTKCTURIi; OF ANTIQUITY ANiJ OF THE MIDDLK AGES. 

 By C. II. Wn.soN, Esq., Director of the Government School of Design, SiC. 



J Paper read at the Royal Institute of British Architects, April 14, 1845, 

 {Abridged.) 



Amongst the various subjects which occupy the public mind, there isnooue 

 more interesting than that of the nature and extent of the encouragement 

 which an cnliglitcned govenment should afford to the Fine Arts. There are 

 many points of view in whicli this subject may be considered ; but this paper 

 will treat only of the means to be taken to provide models of pure art, 



A paper upon this subject was read by the author before the Roy.il Society 

 of Arts i'or Scotland, on the 28th of March, 1838, and two committees were 

 then formed, one of inembi-rs of the Hon. Board ol Commissioners for Manu- 

 factures, and one of members of the Royal Socety of Arts, who reported in 

 favour of the plan, and recommended it to the attention of the government 

 of the time. Since then several similar propositions have l^een brought ior- 

 ward, and there appears to be a strong [irobabifity that seme plan for carry- 

 ing into effect the object proposed will be adopted. 



While the English, Frer.ch and Italian schools of arts are essentially imita- 

 tive, the German alone exhibits that spirit of originality which is the chief 

 cause of the influence exerted by it on taste throughout Europe. To take a 

 striking instance of the diti'erent view which Germans take of ancient art to 

 other nations, — the sculpture which decorates a Gothic church in Germany, 

 whilst style is strictly adhered to, is more perfect in the forms and details as the 

 more advanced stale of the art admits of improvement: the artist does not think 

 it necessary to copy the clumsy disproportioned forms and ugliness of imma- 

 ture art, as we too frequently do ; and in the stained glass the Germans are 

 surely right in exhibiting correct forms and beauty of feature, instead of 

 slavishly imitating the distorted productions of an age which, although it in- 

 herited a good principle of design, possessed but little power of developing it. 

 In reality, this slavish system of imitation may easily be accounted for, nut- 

 withstanding theaflected jargon about symbolism, (a well drawn saint would 

 surely be more agreeably symbolical than forms which arc sometimes too apt 

 to remind us of a very different region), — but it is often found convenient 

 to imitate exactly, where it proves difficult tt- design eflectively. 



AVe see in the admiration, which these close imitations excite in some minds 

 the influence and cli'ect of models, especially of those with which interesting 

 associations are connected, and is not the very existence of this taste, de- 

 fective though it be, a ground of hope that it may be corrected and purified 

 by the exhibition of higher and worthier models? There does not appear to 

 be much difliculty in determining what models should be provided. In the 

 first 'place, if we look around us in the civilized world, we cannot fail to be 

 struck with tliat wonderful unanimity of opinion which gives a preference to 

 the arts of certain periods and schools. 



With casts from, or copies of these works our provincial galleries should 

 in the first place be tilled ; we shoidd net forget the influence of such models 

 and that w hieh the many precious monuments of ancient art (excavated from 

 the soil with which protecting time had covered them), exercised upon the 

 minds of the great artists of old. 



Mention may now be made of the remarkable gallery of casts existing in 



Edinburgh, in the Academy or School of Arts and Design, conducted under 



the auspices of the Hon. Board of Commissioners for Manufactures. This 



1 school was established about three-quarters pf a century afo, and is in all 



