Issue 41 Spring web - Flipbook - Page 69
surrounds his people, from this time forth and for
evermore.” 13
For me as Cathedral Architect, the furnishing of a church
is a sacramental act, a spiritual ‘surrounding’ of the
congregation of the faithful. I believe the artworks in a
great church must feed something into the spiritual life of
the community. They must retell the story of everyday
life in its divine significance: they must be made by ordinary people doing extraordinary things. And, when
objects as significant as relics are allowed to create ‘places’,
a new ‘space’ is made in the building. A new sacramental
purpose is brought to the congregation.
Above, stainless steel gates by Louth for the redevelopment in 2009
of the Archbishop Amigo Jubilee Hall beside Craze’s Baptistery of
1966
21st Century fixtures, including my scheme for a Holy
Door inserted in 2015 and other artefacts, have introduced a newer language of Gothic, employing stone and
metalwork. As such, the edifice, though ‘visually serene’,
is not ‘stylistically pure’ and is potentially robust enough
to accept other stylistic incorporations without detriment
to the heritage value of the building.
Above, John Robert’s portrait of Archbishop Romero stands
between Martin Luther King & Dietrich Bonhoeffer in a row of
C20th Christian martyrs
Therefore, however well made [and one should acknowledge for example that the West Front of Westminster
Abbey introduced John Robert’s exceptionally fine statue
of Romero just 8 years after his assassination and a full 30
Saints & relics
The Eighth Song of Ascents reads
“As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord
Above, Decorating the biblical symbols of Craze’s nave roof in 1958:
with ‘ordinary’ craftsmen doing ‘extraordinary’ things - A.M.D.G.
Above, Adam Kossowski’s ceramic reliquary shrine to St Simon Stock in
the Relics Chapel of the Carmelite Friars at Aylesford in Kent
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Conservation & Heritage Journal
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