St. George’s Cathedral

Relatively unknown St. George’s RC Cathedral in Southwark is well worth a visit. Originally designed by Augustus Welby  Northmore Pugin in 1848 but bombed out in 1941. Rebuilt and reopened in 1958, in a stylized Gothic style by Architect Romilly Craze.

Quite a successful design, Perpendicular/Arts & Crafts whilst retaining some of Pugin’s original building. The stained glass, apart from a few small surviving original fragments, is modern  with two windows by Goddard & Gibbs, chief designer John Lawson (a family connection).

Little remains of Pugin’s church but what survives shows just how much decoration and colour there was  - a stark contrast to the 1950’s building.  The Cathedral lacks a tower and spire as money has never been available to build one which means the building looks unfinished and does not stand out in its surroundings. If it had one it would get more of the attention that it deserves. 

Romford

A return visit to Romford to see what changes have taken place since I was last there. A busy outdoor  market and a smallish indoor market - I think markets especially large covered markets make a town. I hope that the new town centre plan for Guidford includes a covered, 7 day a week market.

Not much of architectural interest in Romford and only a few listed buildings in the town centre with the church being the main one. St Edward the Confessor probably looks better inside than outside which is not outstanding, designed by J Johnson and built in 1849. An interesting set of stained glass windows.

The other best buildings at the centre are two banks (as I’ve found Banks are usually some of the best buildings in town centres). Neither of these two banks are listed and it seems that mid C20 bank buildings are often overlooked for listing.  I missed looking at the Town Hall which is listed and built in 1935 in the Moderne style as the building lies on the other side of a major road - will have to take a look next time.