Lichfield Society

“ I am of opinion there is a body of masons now rising up that, with a very little practice, would execute the foliage of capitals and other enrichments with as much sharpness and relief as the examples we are anxious to follow, and at as little expense as the plasterer of the present day, who has first to model his enrichment in clay, then to take a cast in wax, then to cast it, then to trim it, and afterwards to stick it up. I earnestly hope this Society will reject the introduction of such material as Plaster, Roman cement and Terracotta: if it does not it will be worse than useless. ”

“ I hope we shall not be content in the nineteenth century with the frigid style of the Puritans; every man of taste must regret that work of demolition in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. What exquisite designs! What models of sculpture and painting would now have been before us as examples of art! ”

“ If our funds are limited why attempt to complete the whole? why not leave our successors a share to perform in the great work before us. Take a district wholly destitute of church accommodation, and which, from its population, requires a church to hold one thousand persons. Now, I should provide a church to hold seven hundred, for depend upon it, however great the zeal of the clergyman, he will find a strong predilection for that dissent which has existed in the absence of a church, and which will require, probably, years of labour to remove. ”

“ It is not, however, to the historian, or the philosopher, or to the admirer of beauty only, that the study of Church Architecture is interesting. To the philanthropist and practical man of the present age, it is also a subject of important inquiry. We find ourselves in the present generation placed under very peculiar circumstances. In ancient days our forefathers used to build places of worship, as they were required, for themselves and their dependants. ”

“ It was not the Church, but the Committee of Puritans who sent forth this most zealous iconoclast. The Church does not bid her members build houses to God of stuccoed bricks, or fit them up with painted deal; nor drive the Poor into aisles and galleries, while the Rich loll in their cushioned pews. The characteristic of the English Church is a grave and simple reverence. ”

“ The first and most natural feeling has been to build up, amidst our dense population, edifices which would contain the greatest number of persons;—and much has been done in many places. But then came in another consideration. An innate feeling of propriety, not to speak of religious principle, teaches us that a church ought to be constructed, not only for the accommodation of the people, but for the glory of God. We look around upon our new churches, and feel ashamed at their meagreness and poverty ”

“ The deadliest enemies of Architectural ornaments, and the principal destructives of our churches, were the rebel Puritans, who put to death their king, and archbishop, and drove eight thousand of the clergy from their homes. It is to the same generation of men that we are indebted for other peculiarities which meet the eye in many of our parish churches, especially the enormous rostrum, called the Pulpit, which not unfrequently occupies the very centre of the church, to the exclusion from view of the chancel and altar. ”

“ But while we imitate the beautiful Architecture of the Middle Ages, it does not follow that we are servilely to copy them in their plans and arrangements. Our modern worship differs in some respects from that of the English Church of the mediæval times—our population is much greater—we have many arts and inventions, also, which might be profitably and rightly applied to increase the beauty and convenience of churches.
It is in the promotion of these objects, by inquiry and information, that this Society hopes to do good service. ”

“ It is our intention to form a collection of plans, books, drawings, and models, to which the church-builder may refer; we propose to perpetuate, by engravings, the most beautiful edifices in the Diocese; so that if unhappily they fall to ruin, the memory of them may not be lost. We shall have pleasure in receiving plans and elevations which may be forwarded to us for inspection, and expressing our opinion upon them. We hope, if our funds admit, to contribute to the preservation or restoration of any beautiful remains which may be in danger of perishing. ”

“ In concluding our historical researches in the parish church we must not forget the more recent objects which characterise—I would I could say, the past generation,—indicative of modern luxury and exclusiveness, in the shape of drawing-room cielings and enormous Pews, filled with carpets and cushions and sometimes private stoves, by which the best parts of the church are monopolized by the richer classes, while the poor are pushed aside into holes and corners, or stuck up in some inconvenient and unsightly gallery. ”

“ That a few Rich people should monopolize great square compartments in churches, and chive the Poor into holes and corners, and obstruct the public worship, seems, contrary, not only to right feeling and justice, but to the express Word of God Himself. It should, however, be understood, that by the abolition of pews it is not meant that the parishioners who attend divine service should not have their appropriate places, where they may worship with their family around them. ”

“ It seems now generally admitted that the Norman style is on many accounts unsuitable to modern churches; and that it is better to have recourse to the Gothic, both for the sake of beauty and convenience.
However, modern church-builders have too frequently proved equally unsuccessful in their imitation of the Gothic. A great many modern churches have been built in what was supposed the early English style: the principal feature of which is the narrow lancet window. But new edifices built on this plan have commonly a very meagre and un-churchlike appearance ”

“ The size and depth of the chancel is not the question of least difficulty: some very excellent writers who have done eminent service to Church Architecture, contending that the chancel ought to be deep and screened off, as in the Middle Ages, others, maintaining that in the primitive times the Altar was brought nearer to the people, and that our own Church expressly orders that the consecration of the elements should take place in the presence of the congregation. ”

“ Now, Sir, it appears to me that unless you can connect this Society with the Diocesan Church Building Society its means of usefulness will be extremely limited; for this Society should not only encourage the study of Ecclesiastical Architecture, but it should possess the power of examining designs, and of preventing those from being carried into effect that are not worthy to be classed with those ancient examples we are now anxious to follow. ”

“ How is this, we naturally ask, that a generation, with a purer creed, and fifty times the wealth of former ages, does not build worthier houses of God, than these poor abortive attempts which we see around us? Impressed with these feelings many pious Church-builders began to lay out considerable sums on the ornamental parts of the new edifices—but still the attempt proved a failure: and men came to acknowledge that even with the funds and the will to do what was right—they had not the necessary taste or feeling ”

“ The more active proceedings of this Society, which it may be hoped shortly to enter upon, have hitherto been materially retarded by the difficulty of procuring a room for its use, as a Committee Room and Library—for as its Members have had no place of common resort for the furtherance of their object, and the communication of their ideas, each Member has hitherto been acting in his own independent way, and the progress of the Society in Ecclesiastical knowledge has consequently been but little promoted ”

“ The facts and objects which it presents to us are not only beautiful and picturesque, but they are linked so closely with our national history, and with the moral condition of the English people, as well as with our deepest religious associations as Churchmen, that without some acquaintance with them, no one can have an accurate knowledge of the history of his Church and country, or of the feelings and manners of by-gone ages. ”

“ THE proceedings of this Society during the first year of its existence cannot reasonably be expected to embrace numerousor important subjects of operation, inasmuch as the object of such a Society is more to excite attention to the interesting pursuit of Ecclesiastical Architecture, and to promote a sound knowledge of the principles upon which it is based, than to engage in the actual construction or restoration of Churches; a task far exceeding the limited amount of funds which are available to its use. ”

“ But recent generations, strange to say, have had little care for the most urgent of all wants, and have suffered a vast population to grow up without any adequate provision for the worship of God. The minds of men have at last been awakened to the sin and danger of this state of things ”

“ It is considered that a church ought to accommodate, at least, one-third of the inhabitants of the district or parish to which it is appropriated. If then you build a church crammed with galleries, and so arranged as to hold two thousand persons, you suppose a district of six thousand. It is possible that you might find a preacher with sufficient strength of lungs to perform the service for a year or two in such a church; most men would be incapacitated at the end of a few months. ”

“ Surely those ages could not be so dark and barbarous as some suppose; the spark of religion could not be utterly extinct. Make all the allowance which you please for the impulse of superstition—and I admit much superstition existed—still it is evident that there was a spirit abroad in those ages which we have lost, and it were well if we could by any means restore. ”

“ The antiquary, no doubt, prefers the admixture of style, so long as he can satisfactorily trace its origin, but if you remodel it he will no longer recognize it as a piece of antiquity.
This Society in the course of its usefulness must be prepared to combat strong prejudices, both with Clergymen and Architects, in matters of taste and expense. First, as to taste. Many of the Clergy, particularly the young Clergy, will all at once become architects. ”

“ Upon this point it is desirable here to remark, that with very rare exceptions it may be admitted as a rule, that a country church may be built with legitimate materials of wood and stone—upon correct Church principles, both as to the means and the end, for as little, if not less money, than is generally required to erect such a building in the unsuitable materials of brick, cast-iron, plaster and paint ”

“ It is argued that form and ceremony have nothing to do with Christianity; I agree, as far as the fundamental principle is concerned, but should there not be something like grave dignity when we assemble together in the House of God? ”

“ Moreover, as the utility and efficiency of the Society is in great measure dependent upon the amount of funds at its disposal, the Committee strongly recommends that Donations be solicited in aid of its object, and that privileges be given to Members who assist the operations of the Society by this means. ”

“ The Work in question is the Church Architecture of the Diocese of Lichfield, and is intended to comprise every Church in the Diocese built previous to the Reformation. The Work will be published by Mr. Joseph Potter, a skilful Architect, by whom the Drawings will be made.—They will be strictly Architectural, comprising details of construction and ornament, when desirable.—The letter-press will be edited by a Committee of the Society to be appointed for that purpose.
The Committee deem it unnecessary to refer to some minor subjects which have attracted the attention of the Society ”

“ At the same time, these things have been so long unthought of, and people have been accustomed in many places to such different modes—that much charity and mutual forbearance must be exercised, by those who desire to restore a fitter state of things. ”

“ Note—The Society invites its Members to examine every Church in their power, furnish Reports and Drawings thereof to the Secretaries: to contribute original Papers on any subject connected with the design of the Society; and to augment its Library by Donations. And the Society trusts that its Members, whilst pursuing their antiquarian enquiries, will never forget the Sacred character of the edifices which they visit.
Officers ”

“ The original church consisted of a nave and chancel in Early English, the lancet window still exists in the chancel, and one also at the West end of the nave, which end now forms one side of the tower ”