We shall restore!
Lecture for the Cornwall Historic Churches Trust AGM by Cannon Michael Warner.
24th May 2023 at St Goran Parish Church.
Introduction.
[History tends to get forgotten, and here is a practical example, pulpit, a stand which I made, wood from a coffin-maker, I made it oblong as I did not have the skill to make it fit, and it is still here, and I am standing on it by the lectern!!].
My book, ‘A time to build. Signposts to the building, restoration, enhancement and maintenance of Cornwall’s Anglican Churches and Mission Rooms, 1800-2000’, lists all of the available documentary evidence in the timeframe of the works and the architects, not always professionals but well-meaning amateurs, sometimes I think, using the plans and specifications that had already been submitted by a professional architect, whether this was by accident or design can be discussed. The book also has a complete list of all of those architects, over 100, who were involved in the restoration of Cornwall churches, and the 40,000+ references in the gazetteer also lists those contractors and makers whose names have come down to us.
The gazetteer began, when the Diocesan Advisory Committee visited a church, where some asbestos slates had been placed on the North face of the North aisle roof, and on enquiry, it was found that neither of the church wardens had been in place for a long, the vicar had already left, and the record keeping was non-existent.
I thought, then that such data would be available somewhere and started a card index, which like topsy has grown.
The state of the buildings.
For a moment, I would like you to use your imagination. No doubt some of you will remember the television programme, Listen with Mother, it was a children’s program where the announcer would say ‘…are you sitting comfortably, then I’ll begin…’
Hopefully you are sitting comfortably, however, the story of the restoration of Cornish Anglican churches begins with very few people sitting comfortably at all.
173 years ago, Sir Stephen Glynn, an architectural historian visited St Enodoc, he found, ‘…the whole has a very forlorn and neglected appearance, and the sand has risen so high as to make it easier to ascend the wall and walk between the roofs of the nave in the aisle whence a view of the church is easily obtained through a kind of skylight…’
This is quite a well-used quotation however, the state of St Enodoc church, extreme though it was, by the middle of the 19th century, was mirrored throughout Cornwall. Again, Sir Stephen Glynne observed at Davidstow that the church was, ‘…unhappily, much dilapidated, and the interior, scarcely fit for divine service…’, while at Mevagissey, he found ‘…a miserable church in bad repair and altogether dirty and neglected…’,
At Mabe he noted, ‘… the interior presents an appearance of sad neglect, has sad, ugly, pews, the North side is greatly out of repair and the wall is strengthened, by large, ugly buttresses outside and wooden beams within…’ and finally an example from Pelynt, where he reported that ‘…portions of the floor had vanished into the vaults…’, and that were the flooring has given away he observes that ‘…..hideous gaps have been covered in some places with loose boards and in others with furze bushes…’
In exploring the progress of the restoration of Cornwall’s, Anglican churches, the first question to arise is how did such a situation come to pass in the first place?
There had been decades of indifference to the interior of the buildings as can be seen from the comments recorded in the Rural Dean’s reports of the early 19th century, and a particular example can be seen in the case of the Dean of collegiate church of Saint Buryan, the Reverend Fitzroy Stanhope.
He was Dean of Saint Buryan, a parish that included St Leven between 1817 and 1864, however, before that in 1814, he was appointed Rector of Catton and Vicar of Wressle, both in Yorkshire. You simply cannot imagine two parochial cures further apart. During the 49 years that he was Dean of St Buryan, he collected £62,000 in fees and glebe rents, which today has the purchasing power of just over £8 million. This together with the income of his two Yorkshire parishes, made him a very wealthy man indeed.
Some work was undertaken to St Buryan between 1848-1851 when the roof was repaired and the gallery was removed by Sedding, however it was not until 1874 that the church was restored by William Butterfield. Dean Stanhope’s church at St Levan fared little better, when in 1862, Sir Stephen Glynne found ‘…the interior is generally in a very bad state, damp and dirty, and having an ugly gallery and rickety pews…’
There were however some shining examples of clergy who did try to improve both a lot of the parish church and their parishioners. For example, the Reverend Thomas Fisher, who was Rector of the parish of Roche between 1819-1834, and he restored his church by living frugally himself on 4d a day. The church was restored in 1822 by John Best, though a further restoration was needed in 1889.
This restoration was under the direction of J D Sedding and Wilson, and followed a letter in the Western Morning News in 1888, referring to ‘…the ugliest church in Cornwall…’
Whilst we are looking at the state of the buildings, it is important to reflect upon the fact that there were many alternative places for people to worship.
The rise of Non-Conformity, Methodism especially, meant that a significant number of people in Cornwall had left their parish church for many and various reasons, and were now worshipping in newer buildings, with better heating, some with school rooms and even toilet facilities.
The Anglican situation was changed radically with the appointment in November 1830 of Bishop Henry Philpotts as the Bishop of Exeter, a bishopric he served until 1869. He approached his task in the diocese which stretched from a few parishes in Somerset through Devon and on into Cornwall with enthusiasm and diligence, and it was these traits that rescued the dire situation at the beginning of the 19th century. In the first full year of his episcopate, he undertook a tour of the whole of the diocese in preparation for his Primary Visitation of 1833.
The result of that tour and the challenges posed by the questions in his Visitation during the first three years of his episcopacy can readily be seen in the changes that began to be undertaken both in the attitude to church buildings, but more importantly, the attitude of the clergy themselves.
Significant problems of the geographical position of many ancient parish churches based as they were on Celtic foundations and distant from the then current centres of population, was solved by the building of new churches in the growing industrial areas of Cornwall, indeed 36 new churches were erected in Cornwall during Bishop, Philpotts’ episcopate, however the building of new churches and mission rooms is another story for another time, and not covered in this talk.
Ways and Means.
We now come to the ways and means that the restorations were undertaken.
There are three statements that can now be made categorically following my research.
1. Not all of the restorations were by one architect. This is often contrary to the information that can be gleaned from some respected reference books, where often it is stated that the restoration was by ‘so-and-so’.
2. Not all of the restorations were completed to the original proposals.
3.Not all of the restorations were completed within budget.
What the architects found and the challenges that they faced in their work of restoration?
This fine church can be used as an example of what the architects were facing. It was noted in the Western Morning News in 1867, that the church was dilapidated, had holes in the roof and water was coming in. The roof was restored in 1869, however, between 1870 and 1873, there was still letters in the local press concerning the state of the church. JP St Aubyn restored the church between 1874-77, though it was reopened for worship in 1875. There were celebrations in the vicarage garden and Grampound band was in attendance. Even into the 20th century, some of the most significant carved woodwork to be found in Cornwall could be found in these choir stalls and panels, though this scheme was unfinished through cost elements.
St Cuby, Tregony had been re-roofed in 1828, the mediaeval roof being discarded, and inside, the south arcade removed; in place of which a vast, simple, single pitched roof was installed spanning the interior space. The requirement to enlarge the building had been dictated by the need to increase the free seatings from 30 to 290. To achieve such a drastic increase, the exterior walls were made thinner and higher, the roof was raised, and a gallery inserted at the West end. The failure of these works, which resulted from a poor design, and being constructed of poor materials, directly contributed to the need for a complete re-build at the end of the 19th century. In 1866, the Exeter Diocesan Architectural Association reported on the south aisle, and made particular note of the ‘…wooden windows, and every symptom of degradation…’ from the postcard, it can be seen at the south all the windows had been replaced, however, there is no record of the date that this was undertaken the possibly it was by J P St Aubyn as well.
Inevitably the weight of the overall roof caused the failure of the top of the north and south wall walls owing to the reduced thickness thus the consequence of all this was that the parishioners of a poor parish had to pay for two major schemes of repair and restoration during 70 years.
St Aubyn’s, description of Callington gives a particular insight into the problems that the restoring architects faced. He reported, ‘… the condition of the building, to lately, was the most miserable that can be well imagined. The slating of all the roofs had completely perished; the flat aisle roofs have been taken off and lean-to roofs substituted, therefore, blocking up the clerestory window…the tracery and mullions of the windows in most cases were dreadfully mutilated, and in others is entirely destroyed and filled in with sash windows, the glass being of the meanest description…the battlements were much out of repair and the wall required re-pointing throughout…’
St Aubyn restored the church between 1856-1859 and a new South aisle and vestry were added by John Dando Sedding in 1879.
When I was preaching at Stithians, where I was the Vicar, at an Evensong in 1983, a significant portion of the plasterwork fell from the North arcade. The mark can still be seen in the Easternmost pew in the aisle in front of the pulpit. Whether this was Divine intervention, I could not possibly comment upon.
Because of the cost element, a situation that we shall come across again and again, the original restoration at Stithians was particularly limited, and instead of realigning the North arcade, St Aubyn specified that plasterwork up to 4 inches thick would be used to level up the arcade. This plasterwork was placed on many centuries of limewash, and, of course, after about 100 years, it began to fall off. We were granted a faculty to remove all of the plasterwork, a task which was undertaken by ourselves, that is the community, not only just church people, and when it was completed Heritage England commissioned a major study by Dr Warwick Rodwell, of what we had found: Badly decayed North Aisle windows because of the use of Polyphant laid incorrectly.
The results of some of St Aubyn’s work.
J P St Aubyn’s plan of Tregony. Earlier, we reflected upon the overall roof at Tregony, here we see, St Aubyn’s solution. A return to the medieval floor plan, but with considerable seating changes which we shall reflect on later.
Here at Gorran we have St Aubyn’s very decent roof timbers which are similar to those at Perranarworthal, a fine example, using Memel pine as there was more money for the restoration, whilst at Stithians he installed the cheapest scissor-truss roof, which incidentally, is not aligned truly north to south.
Fundraising
As we have already noted, the constraints of funding for the restorations were a significant problem. It needs to be born in mind, that the majority of the schemes that is those of the 1860s and 1870s were undertaken at a time of the collapse of the mining industry.
For example, St Aubyn restored Saint Just-in-Penwith in 1866, midway through a decade that saw the population fall from 9000 to 6400.
In the same way at Gwennap, where he started the restoration in 1862, with the work taking 29 years to complete, the census returns showed that the population fell from 11,000 in 1841 to 6000 in 1881. Church of England clergy, the churchwardens, and the congregations, were all trying to restore buildings in a financial depression, which, in itself, was problematic and allied, to the growth of the Nonconformist, congregations, proved a far greater challenge. In the newspaper reports of the day, there are many examples of descriptions of the reopening is after restorations, which include the comment to be completed when funds allow.
It is rare to find parishes that were able to pay for the restoration of the church without committed fundraising and appeals raised in the local press, indeed, there are constant references in local newspapers regarding fundraising for the works and they often consequential concerns as to whether suitable reserves were available to cover the debts accrued. It is possible to note from my research, the gradual way that works were undertaken, the phasing of schemes, being entirely dependent upon resources, or as with more often the case, the lack of them.
Underwriting the payment for the restoration of his parish church, was cited as a contributory factor in the bankruptcy of the Reverend John West of St Pinnock.
He had restored the church in 1881, at his own expense at an estimated cost of £1034, the contractor being Mr Blowey of Buckland Monachorum working under the direction of the architect James Hine of Plymouth.
At the bankruptcy hearings in East Stonehouse Bankruptcy Court on the 21st of November 1895, it was noted that the Reverend West lost, considerable sums through the failure of his mining shares, and the sale of a private bank in Liskeard.
Just as today, parishioners were at pains to find as many different ways of raising capital for restorations and new buildings as possible. These included the predictable, bazaars, concerts and teas held at vicarages, or the local big house, or more imaginative events, such as that at Stratton parish church which had a sale of work and exhibited a Christmas tree in December 1887. St Teath held a sale of ‘fancy goods’, and concert in aid of the restoration in January 1886, and Gwennap hosted the disposal of surplus woodwork and the sale of printed sermons, whilst the vicar of North Petherton advertised the sale of encaustic tiles ‘…some used…’ Some of the woodwork from the old box pews in now in the library at Trevice, the home of the Beauchamps close to Gwennap church.
On Friday, the 17th of July 1908 a fete was held in the grounds of the recently completed, vicarage at Budock, hosted by the vicar, the Reverend Alexander Vaudrey, in order to raise funds for a new chancel screen, (later designed by Edmund H Sedding and never completed), a program of events was arranged that included stalls of produce, sales of work and teas, as well as the performance of two one-act plays in the vicarage dining room, glees, an old English Maypole dance, Romberg’s ‘Toy Symphony’, and hand-bell ringing. For an hour from 5 pm there was a phonographic selection
Aftermath.
We now come to the thorny question with regards to the effect that the Victorian and to a certain extent, the Edwardian restorations has left the church buildings at the beginning of the 21st Century. Mostly in a reasonable state, however, a number of roofs, after 150 years, are getting nail-sick.
A classic example of a continuing problem is the misuse of some stone in those restorations, namely Polyphant which I have already alluded to at Stithians. This stone has to be laid horizontally, however by the time of the restorations, Polyphant, which was easily worked, was being installed in smaller segments owing to the reduced availability in the quarry and, significantly being laid vertically.
You may be aware of the structural problems at St Paul’s Truro, where Polyphant was used structurally.
The budgetary constraints often held a parish back from completing the proposed restorations. This can be seen at Perranarworthal with the use of chairs initially as there were no funds for pews and an organ, both of which were installed by a faculty dated 2nd June 1902.
Whilst considering seating, it is interesting to re-look at Tregony. There was a brief entry in the Truro Kalendar referring to works completed on the 2nd of February 1899. The total cost which was over £1500; it was noted that the tower was still only in need of repair, however this brief entry in the Truro Kalendar omits details of the seating, all of which were second-hand. Some of this seating had come from Gulval in 1895 and St Austell parish church, both being restored from plans by J P St Aubyn, the former in 1891 and the latter between 1896 and 1900. This is a typical case in which the architect was recycling material from wealthier parishes, which were upgrading their facilities to those that wanted to attempt to make some effort to complete the project.
There is anecdotal evidence that further second-hand seating was acquired during the ongoing restoration of the neighbouring parish church of Creed in 1904, to the designs of Otho Peter.
The reasonable use of material, removed from wealthier churches that have finished their restorations to those less well-off, as in the case of St Cuby, Tregony undoubtedly helped the poorer parishes, however, it often left some churches with sets of pews that did not match or fit the parish church. This can be seen at Tregony in the way that the South aisle columns of the late 19th century restoration, which followed the original layout of the mediaeval church are encompassed by an unbalanced set of church furniture. St Aubyn’s design therefore sought to restore the simplicity of the interior after the clutter caused by the installation of the 18th century box pews and the addition of a West gallery. The simple symmetry of the interior of the original building has been lost through the financial constraints placed upon the parish.
There is no written evidence that the parishioners of St Cuby, Tregony complained about the ascetic look of the newly restored parish church, perhaps, because they would have always known it, was a task only partially completed.
There were, however, other consequences of a more light-hearted nature. The Reverend William Willimot went to the parish of St Michael Caerhays in 1851, and the events that he described in about 1861-1862, when the book Hymns, Ancient and Modern have just been published, were noted in his Cornish sketchbook.
His sister was staying at the vicarage and at this date the altar rails were not in place and were installed as part of the 1885 improvements. In his book, the Reverend Willimot has a drawing, and a story with title of ‘The dog on the harmonium’.
He wrote, ‘…Here is another doggy episode in church. As I have written, the singing in Caerhays church in 1852, was very remarkable and we are determined to try whether by the introduction of a harmonium we could improve it. A harmonium was introduced together with the tunes and words of Hymns, Ancient, and Modern. My sister, the most nervous of women, kindly consented to play on the condition that she was to face the east end of the church, so I still have no one in front of her. William Golley the clerk still had possession of his pew, and his shepherd dog followed him into the church, without his knowing, and laid himself down, where he remained quite quiet, until my sister struck a chord; he then jumped up, and throwing his head back let out the most piercing howl, which was immediately followed by a frantic, yell of fright from my sister, the clerk simultaneously, waking up, proceeded to objurgate, and kicking his dog down the aisle, took his place when the dog was expelled from the church, as if nothing had happened…’
Conflict.
Whilst we can all acknowledge that currently some clergy still have the capacity to put stones to fight, it is important to acknowledge that some of the restorations were undertaken in a background of conflict.
As I mentioned earlier, we have not had time to discuss the new church buildings, mission churches and mission rooms that were brought into use in the 200 years under our study, nor have we had time to discuss more fully the liturgical aspects that affected the way the buildings were used. The most well-known example of this in the early 20th century was it since Hilary however, I have found faculties for both Mawnan and Lanner, both of which have be appear to have been forgotten by researchers into the subject, which also reflect the changes in the liturgical style and use however, we cannot leave this subject before we look at conflict itself. It is important to understand not all of the restoration projects were received with uniform approval, and even when they were undertaken, there was still pastoral conflict.
Two examples will suffice that of the parish churches of Liskeard and Gwennap, though the numerous newspaper references that I have found also bear witness to widespread unease. Liskeard parish church was restored under the direction of the Liskeard-born architect Richard Coad from 1858 onwards.
Coad again directed a further restoration in 1878, during which two new painted windows were donated as memorials to the Glencross and Pedlar families and a new heating system was installed it was, however the application of a faculty for a faculty to undertake for demolition of the ancient tower in 1897, that provoked opposition. A Consistory Court was held on the 23rd of September 1897, with a judgement being given on the 27th of October.
The faculty was refused, but this was not the end of the matter as a further faculty application to ‘…take down the remainder of the tower, re-build, erect choir vestry, new West window etc, etc, etc, was granted in June 1898, this work totalling £6400 was completed by the end of 1902 by Coad’s, former assistant and by then, Liskeard-based architect, John Sansom, when the new tower and bells (of which there are no written reference, unless they were included in the etc, etc, etc), were dedicated on 30th December. A classic example of a parish ‘going its own way’, regardless of the legal requirements.
At Gwennap, J P St Aubyn oversaw the lengthy restoration of the church. In 1878, the West Briton newspaper carried a lengthy article on the reopening of the church, after substantial restoration of the end of which is a comment concerning the work that are being undertaken ‘…but to such lengths of the dissensions being carried at the architect, Mr J Piers St Aubyn, than whom there are few more trustworthy authorities on church architecture, was discharged by the committee, because they disapproved of half the seats being supplied with doors and the other half being left open. It is unfortunately much to be feared that the Bishop will be called upon to decide the questions of appropriated or unappropriated seats…’
At a luncheon, the vicar, the Reverend Saltren Rogers, in his speech ‘…thanked the Reverend T Philpotts, a former vicar of the parish, for so readily, filling in the gap, when it became known that the Bishop could not attend (Hear, hear). There had been difficulties in the past, but he trusted that they would go on with heartily goodwill and unity of heart for the future…’ according to the West Briton, Philpotts concluded his speech, with a barbed reference,’…to the general amity, which prevailed during his nine years of residence at Gwennap…’ The cause of the dissension can still be seen today with the pews to the East of the crossing having doors and those to the West without.
We have not had time to discuss whether the restorations were too drastic. With the benefit of hindsight and in the viewpoint of today we might have a distinct opinion, however, for example, when the St Aubyn family at Clowence, their ancestral home, were considering the restoration of the parish church, they were considering whether they wanted to continue to conduct and attend worship in a decaying and potentially dangerous building. The concept of conservation in the frenzy of mid-Victorian church restoration was alien, and indeed, if items were considered important enough to be conserved, such expertise and skills were not easily available.
It is virtually impossible to make a like-for-like cost comparison of the individual works of the restorers, as the condition of the existing building is varied as well as the specifications for the work and the budget that was available. However, the details noted in my book will be a witness to the dedication, hard work and commitment of all those who were involved in the building, restoration, enhancement and maintenance of Cornwall’s Anglican churches and mission rooms and churches, these buildings continue to form a significant part of the landscape, and the sentiments expressed in the Review of Historic Environment of Wales, apply to the Cornish landscape as well. The review stated; ‘…people shape landscapes and are shaped by them. It is the stories and meanings, memories, and associations that we attach to buildings and landscapes that underpin our sense of who we are, and where we belong. Places testify to the struggles and achievements, the aspirations, and failures, of those who came before us. They can sustain the idea of the continuing community, and our role in it, and help shape our personal values.
If we do not forget, or we discover, how to read them, places prompt us to consider the meaning of past events for us now. The survival in the fabric of our landscape allows future generations to have the same opportunity…’
The Anglican churches of Cornwall invite continuing investigation, both buildings in their own right, together with their place in the local community, and hopefully the signposts, which I have mentioned in the introduction to my book, will enable others to navigate their own journey of discovery. For example, what is the story behind a faculty granted in 1821 for St Mawes ‘…Disinterring Cory coffin to remove papers…’ There are major discussions currently being held over the future of these buildings, and whether the church needs the number that it currently has. These discussions need not only pastoral considerations, but also firm documentary evidence of the important history of them. Hopefully the research contained in my book, containing as it does references to all of the identifiable, works conducted to, and within these buildings, together, with a comprehensive list of the architects and surveyors involved, will continue to inform that discussion as has all the work of the Cornwall Historic Churches Trust in helping to maintain these significant buildings.
We must be thankful that, at the moment in history, someone said ‘…we shall restore!…’