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.

London War Memorials

Currently at the Quadriga Gallery in Wellington Arch there is an interesting exhibition about War Memorials, focused mainly on the London ones cared for by English Heritage.

One of the most outstanding examples being the Royal Artillery Memorial, situated at Hyde Park Corner. With excellent carved relief panels by sculptor Charles Jagger graphically portraying scenes from WW1 around the base. ‘No other memorial is as dramatic and brutal in its depiction of modern warfare’.

The exhibition gives an insight into the move throughout the country to erect memorials after the First World War and to the fact that most of them were not paid for by the State but many were the result of contributions from individuals and fellow service men.

Mention is also made of the conservation work being carried out and the need to record the thousands of the memorials from all conflicts that have involved the British.

http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/wellington-arch/exhibitions-at-the-arch/current-exhibition/

GWR War Memorial on Paddington Station

Salisbury

A train trip to Salisbury on a wet and windy day in February, the last time I visited the city I remember that it was dull and very cold, so I’ve probably not seen Salisbury in the best light!

The city centre busy with people shopping, but first into Wetherspoons The Kings Head Inn, an interesting building with a history going back to the fifteenth century. Watched the rain through the leaded windows.

Then into St Tomas’s church and bought from their book sale a copy of The Red Guide to England, quite a lot has changed since it was published in 1974. I do recall visiting the church back in the late 1960’s but don’t recall much of it (although I still have the guide book), quite a large church with a ‘Doom’ painting.

A good number of interesting buildings in the centre, the Town Hall being especially good, as is Lloyds Bank. Behind the bank the Post Office building and outside two very neglected telephone kiosks – the situation with listed phone boxes needs to be resolved.

Then into the Cathedral with just a few visitors so great to be able to walk around without hoards of tourists, lots to look at but I was particularly interested in a memorial to a Railway Accident in Salisbury on July 1^st 1906 involving the boat train which left the track when travelling at over twice the speed limit through the station resulting in 28 people being killed.

Birmingham

A very wet visit to Birmingham primarily to do the Photography Show at the NEC – that dire collection of sheds where you have to walk miles to get anywhere, anyway it was a good show and worth visiting.

Whilst in Birmingham I wanted to revisit the new Library, a great building. This time I was able to get to see the Shakespeare Memorial Room, this original feature from the city’s Victorian library was designed by John Henry Chamberlain in 1882, it was too busy on my first visit as the library had only just opened, but not too many people this time -  strange to be in a wood panelled period room on top of a modern building.

The Museum & Art Gallery always has things of interest that I have not seen before and the Pre-Raphaelite paintings are fantastic in detail and execution.

Birmingham still has many good Victorian buildings but due to the weather I was unable to take any photos, although I have shot many of them in the past but mostly on film. I ended up sheltering in the Cathedral and looking at the Burne Jones stained glass windows, a fine set.

One building in Birmingham that badly needs to find a new use is the original 1838 London & Birmingham Railway Curzon Street Station by Philip Hardwick, the oldest railway terminus in the world. Unused and neglected for years it’s one of the most important buildings in the city and must be given the attention it deserves. 

Coventry

I’ve visited Coventry many times and quite like it as a city, it has some good parts as well as some post war eyesores. I looked around the two medieval churches in the city centre which I was pleased to find were open for visitors, both have interesting features and stained glass. On this occasion I did not visit the Cathedral due to time constraints and at £8.00 admission I would want to get my monies worth! (not sure how they can justify £8.00?).

One of the best features of Coventry is the central covered Market, a round construction with a car park on the roof. Busy and full of good things that can be found in a proper market – fruit & veg, Meat, hardware, fabrics and household items (nothing arty or crafty). It would be good to have a covered market in Guildford but economics are against having one, although most big towns and cities have a market hall as an asset.

The Banks, as is usual with pre 1960 bank buildings , display their facades to the public with columns and Portland stone giving an impression of solidarity and importance  - it’s disappointing that Banks now no longer value their buildings (or customers) and many good examples have now been sold off. I have written about bank buildings in a previous blog.

Looking Back to 2013

Walthamstow and Crawley

A couple of visits made in 2013 to two different places neither having much of architectural interest to offer.

Walthamstow, apart from the William Morris gallery (which I've not yet returned to after it’s makeover), can only offer the Library as a building worth looking at. Built 1907-9 in red brick by J W Dunford, in a style typical of the period, interesting interiors with good stained glass on the staircase, listed grade 11.

Crawley has a few old buildings with the church of St John the Baptist being probably the best building in the town, C15 and C19 with Horsham slab roofs, listed grade 11*.  The town centre is a disappointment and lacks the post war planning of somewhere like Coventry (which I quite like).