June 28, 1872.
THE BUILDING NEWS. 3398
deed-room door, are the marks of the crowbars
Oliver Cromwell’s soldiers, under his directions,
used when forcing an entrance into those parts of the
building. Of the additions, the principal is the new
library, a hall of noble dimensions, with an open roof
of English oak, which is supported by stone corbels
in front, on which are carved shields, emblazoned
with the arms of the family from the earliest times.
There are two large Medieval fire-places in this hall,
both of Ham Hill stone, with heraldic emblems intro-
duced into the panels sculptured in Caen stone, the
better to take decoration. The floors are all of oak.
The decorations are by Mr. Crace, of London; the
stonework by Mr. Staple, of Ilminster; the carving
by Mr. Harry Hems, of Exeter; and the stained
glass by Messrs. Clayton & Bell. There are some
excellent carvings by Gibbons, very similar to those
at Chatsworth House by that artist, which were for-
merly in a portion of the old house now removed.
These, we believe, are to be hung up in the library ;
but, although beautiful in themselves, are so out of
character with the architectural features of that
portion of the house that we should think a more
fitting place might be found for them.
WeEpNEsBURY.—A new Town Hall was opened at
Wednesbury, on Wednesday. Messrs. Loxton
Brothers are the architects. The building is, exter-
naily, plain in the extreme. The internal propor-
tions are: length, 75ft. ; width, 46ft. ; height, 36ft. ;
accommodation being provided for an audience of
780 persons, and in the orchestra for a band and
chorus of 120. In the basement is the hall-keeper’s
house, with scullery, engine-house, &c,, with retiring
rooms ; and all other necessary offices are provided.
The total cost will not exceed £3,000, The builder
is Mr. D. Moore, of Walsall.
——_>__—_—
STAINED GLASS.
PrrMINGHAM.—A stained glass window, consisting
of two lights, has just been erected in the east
window, at S. Stephen’s Church, Selly Hill, Birming-
ham. The subjects represented are respectively the
“Crucifixion” and the ‘Descent from the Cross.”
In the tracery above are angels holding the Passion
Symbols. The artist was Mr. Swaine Bourne, of
Birmingham.
Sutton Mappock.—A stained glass memorial
window was fixed in Sutton Maddock Church, near
Shifnal, on Tuesday week. The window consists
of two openings, one subject occupying each, the one
on the left-hand opening being “The Baptism,” and
the other on the right “Suffer little Children.”
Below the subjects are two angels surrounded with
light grisaille work, and in the upper part are light
canopies with ruby backgrounds; in a small tracery
piece isthe Agnus Dei. The window was designed
aut painted by Messrs. Done & Davies, of Shrews-
ury.
—- > ————
WATER SUPPLY AND SANITARY
MATTERS.
Tue Pustic HEALTH Brry.—A deputation from
the River Lea Conservancy Board waited on Mr.
Stansfeld, the President of the Local Government
Board, on Tuesday, with the view of obtaining some
provision in the Public Health Bill to prevent the
creation of a concurrent jurisdiction in the Lea
Valley for dealing with pollutions to the River Lea
and its tributaries; and requesting that the autho-
rity of the conservators in that respect should be
retained. The hon. gentleman stated that he did
not see that there would be any difficulty in meeting
the request, and promised the conservators that he
qe consider as tothe way in which it should be
one.
THE Swinpon New Town Main Ovrrarn
SEWAGE Works being now completed (says the
North Wilts Herald), the Board, at their meeting
on Thursday week, passed a unanimous vote of
thanks to their engineers, Messrs. Russ & Minns
and expressed their sense of the skill and ability
with which the works had been designed and
executed. The saying to the ratepayers effected by
the execution of Messrs. Russ & Minns’ plan is
considerable, as it ayoids all outlay for labour, fuel,
and wear and tear of machinery. The whole of the
Sewage now flows rapidly by gravitation through
2 tunnel and culvert 2,000 yards long, on to the
highest part of the farm, and thence oyer every
part of it by surface carriers. The tunnel is driven
at adepth of 37ft. in the centre below the surface,
and so accurately was it laid out that though it was
commenced at four different places the whole of
the arches met most accurately, centre brick to
centre brick, and an uniform gradient of one in 1,100
muntained throughout. Altogether, the works are
highly satisfactory, act perfectly, and reflect great
credit on the engineers,” The farm, which is 105
acres in extent, is now receiving the sewage, the
necessary works being rapidly proceeded with.”
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Recervep.—J. & Co.—E, B.—S. A. G.—R. N, S.—G. W.— C, B, A.—E. W. G.—J. R.—T. H.—W., T., jun.—R. P. §, —X M. 8.—J. A. L—W. H. L.—E. J. B,—T. W. M.— B,C. H.—Intra Muros.—C, S. A.—E, W. S.—F. P.— H, B. McM.—W. M. & Co. M. Rosinson.—The plan came to hand. C, A. WEDDLE.—The MS. to hand. A CONSTANT READER.—Your request will be complied with. ONE OF THE LAST HuNDRED.—Your suggestions would narrow the competition. E, R. 8.—Please send account. oo Correspondence. —_——— “MODERN SCOTTISH ECCLESIASTICAL ARCHITECTURE.” To the Editor of the Burtpive News. Srr,—In common with, I dare say, Mr. Honey- man’s other professional brethren in Glasgow, I have read with much interest the paper contributed by him to the Conference. From one of the ablest of our few writing architects, a paper at once elegant and lucid is only what might be expected; but while the literary excellences of Mr. Honeyman’s essay command admiration, exception may be taken to some of his arguments. Mr. Honeyman dates the decline and fall of Scottish ecclesiastical architecture from the Reformation, and the revival of it from the Disruption—*“ a secession the great extent and peculiar character of which con- tributed more, directly and indirectly, to the adyance- ment of ecclesiastical architecture in Scotland than anything, or probably all else which had occurred since the period of the Reformation.” From this secession arose what is commonly called the “ Free” Church—a party ‘‘maintaining that it is still the Church of Scotland, though voluntarily, and it hoped temporarily, disestablished and free.” Now, frum his position that the Disruption contributed so greatly to the advancement of ecclesiastical archi- tecture in Scotland Mr. Honeyman argues: ‘‘ Bad as the old parish churches for the most part were, the Dissenters, previous to the disruption in 1843, had generally been contented with worse. The great majority of the people would have thought it something scandalous if the Dissenters had ventured to erect a steeple or swing a bell. Their buildings were always unobtrusive and unadorned, and their influence on the ecclesiastical art of the country was not appreciable. The Free Church, however, inaugurated a totally different state of matters; claiming, as we have seen, to be de facto { the Church of Scotland, she had no scruples about
bells or steeples. . . . . As the church became
consolidated, and its members accustomed to liberality,
one congregation came to vie with another in the
completeness and beauty of its ecclesiastical build-
ings. . . . Inevery town, and almost in every
village, the Free Church towers and spires became
conspicuous, and the Free Church bells held their
own, at least, with those of the Established Church.
Now, this was a distinct innovation. It was some-
thing new for Dissenters to assume this position of
equality with the Church Established; and the
movement required only to be initiated to be readily
followed by other non-established churches.”
Church bells in a city are a public nuisance, and
steeples are by no means necessary to churches; but
although previous to the Disruption the great
majority of the people might have thought it some-
thing scandalous if the Dissenters had ventured to
swing the one or erect the other, the Dissenters had
in Glasgow, long prior to 1843, some churches that,
if then “unobtrusive and unadorned,” at least now
command a rather respectful regard. I may
mention the United Presbyterian Church in
Wellington-street — a building of very great
merit—and the church erected for the congrega-
tion of Dr. Wardlaw. This seems as if then, as
well as now, where there was at least money,
if not also other motives, there was a desire for
both beauty and comfort, and sometimes the ob-
taining of them. It may have been “ something new
for Dissenters to assume a position of equality with
the Church Established,” but it was for the very
reason that the “Free” Church ‘claimed to be de
facto the Church of Scotland” that it “had no
scruples about bells or steeples.” Whenever the
‘* Free’ Church became consolidated, and its members
accustomed to liberality, not only did one congrega-
gation come to vie with another, but the whole body,
whenever it had the power, came to more than rival
the church whence it had seceded in the completeness
and beauty of its ecclesiastical buildings. There is
nothing more natural than to endeavour to outvie
those with whom we haye had strife, and the bells
and steeples asserted at least an equality. Yet,
strange to say, a goodly proportion of the ‘“ Free’
churches in Glasgow has neither !
Of late years there has been a considerable “ ad-
vancement ” in what may be cal.ed ‘secular ” archi-
tecture. Our dwellings, commercial houses, and
public offices are all much more ornate in their
design and luxurious in their furnishings than they
were ‘‘a short quarter of a century ago.” The
church is infected with the spirit of theage. Luxury
and sensationalism will not be wanted if Plutus can
procure them. Andif for the ‘ Free” Church, why
not for also the United Presbyterian and the Inde~
pendent—if they can only get them ? Mr. Honeyman
speaks, however, of ‘‘the growing appreciation of
art,” and says that ‘‘ coincident with this has arisen
a liberality of sentiment regarding religion and all
its accessories which has already changed for the
better the old-fashioned services of the Scottish
churches. This has led, among other things, to the
introduction of organs and trained choirs, stained
glass windows, coloured mural decoration, appro-
priate furniture, and many minor changes, which,
but a short quarter of a century ago, would have
been regarded by all devout Presbyterians with
superstitious abhorrence.” The aspirations of Pres-
byterians in the direction of art is now, ‘‘for the
most part, limited only by the means at their dis-
posal; they have become alive to the propriety of
making the House of God in some measure worthy
of its sacred dedication.” If there be a single sen-
tence in the New Testament warranting or justifying
in Christian churches the use of organs and trained
choirs, and the using of stained glass windows and
coloured mural decoration; if there be a single sen-
tence indicating that the purpose of the House of
God is for art—and not heart-worship—I may, per-
haps, understand how the old-fashioned services of
the Scottish Churches have changed for the better.
Have they changed for the better if these art ‘‘acces-
sories” of religion get churches into debt, while the
New Testament tells us to owe no man anything ?
Have they changed for the better if the coloured
mural decoration must be upon walls that are walls
of partition between rich and poor, if the ‘storied
windows richly dight” in blazoning “the boast of
heraldry, the pomp of power,” assert a ‘respect of
persons’? Are trained choirs a change for the better
to those who ‘‘chant their artless notes in simple
guise,” or are organs to those who would “ sing with
the spirit, and with the understanding also”? Will
the man with a gold ring in goodly apparel find in
“appropriate ‘furniture really much of a change for
the better from the footstool under which the poor
man in vile raiment was commanded to sit ?
The ceremonious ritual of the Mosaic Dispensation
required that magnificence and splendour of which
