Bath
.
St Alphege's Church
The Building
Origins
In the 1920s there were two Catholic churches in Bath; St Mary's in Julian Road to the North
which had been served by secular clergy for 60 years, and St John's in the centre of the city which was served by the Benedictine
community of Downside. With the Catholic population increasing, Dom Anselm Rutherford, OSB, the Father Prior at St John's decided that
a third church was required in the Southern area of the city. A site was selected in Oldfield Park between the Somerset & Dorset
Ralway embankment and Oldfield Lane. This was a working class district built mainly in the early years of the century, serving the nearby
factories and railway depots, but the local authority had plans for new housing estates on the other side of the railway.
" The church was my first essay into the Romansque style of architecture. It has always been one of my favourite works;
my only regret is that it has not proved possible to complete the exterior by building the campanile."
" The design, though simple, gives no impression of cheapness, and this was largely due to the fact that the walls are of stone
both inside and out, and the craftsmanship is of fine quality." " Bath stone, of which the church is built, is usually used in an uninteresting way with regular courses having a smooth face.
At St Alphege's I have used stones that came out of the quarry in rough shapes and needed little more treatment than knocking
off the greater projections. Wide joints are not only necessary with this type of rough stone, but add to the beauty of the walling. "
"The floor was an interesting experiment in using small pieces of linoleum, in the same manner as marble is used to give a
tessalated floor of rich colour and pattern. It follows the traditional effect given by the marble floors in some of the old
Basilica in Italy."
The walling stone came from the local quarries in Box, but that for the pillars, which have a polished surface, was from Leckhampton,
near Cheltenham. The distinctive roof tiles were imported from the Lombardy region of Italy.
The capitals at the top of each pillar have "exquisite figuritive carvings". Those on the north side depict scenes from the
life of Our
Lady, and those on the south side from the life of St Alphege. Those supporting the choir and organ loft depict persons associated
with the design and building of the church, including Giles Gilbert Scott himself. In all there are carvings of
50 scenes on the 14 pillars. Scott used William Drinkwater Gough for this work, having worked with him on some of
his other projects. (examples: Scott and
Alphege).
The baldachino of gilded oak which covers the altar was carved by Stuflesser of Ortieo and
decorated by Watts of London. The fine carving of the Virgin in the Lady chapel is by Theodore Kearn
Some time during the early 1930s fourteen panels of the Stations of the Cross were inserted into the walls
around the church depicting Our Lord's journey to his Crucifixion. These bas-relief stone panels are beautifully carved in a simple style
representative of that era. The identity of the carver is unknown and any information about the panels and
carver would be welcomed.
The years following the opening of the church were those of the Great Depression with much hardship, followed almost
immediately by World War II. It was not until the 1950s that work to complete the church could recommence, this time under the direction of
parish priest Fr James Kelly . The sacristy and Lady Chapel were completed in 1954, that year being the millenial anniversary of the birth of St Alphege
and the Silver Jubilee of the opening of the church. The ceremony of consecration of the church could now take place.
The presbytery and link corridor followed in 1958. Giles Gilbert Scott had retired by this time but he gave his time freely to oversee the design of the presbytery to ensure that the his church was not compromised by an inferior building.
The parish hall was built in 1959 to a design by Bristol achitects. The west gallery was finished in 1960 enabling the organ to be
installed - a fine instrument built in 1915 to demonstrate the quality of craftsmanship produced by its makers, Rushman and Draper of Liverpool.
Unfortunately, it was only possible to build the campanile to half its design height at this late date because of the nature of the soil,
resulting from the proximity of the adjacent stream.
In 1989 the church celebrated its Diamond Jubilee.
The Dream
The dream was Father Rutherford's, but the realisation was the result of the generosity of the worshipers at St John's.
Father Rutherford had a desire to return to the simplicity of the architecture of the early Christian Church, the architecture of Rome,
and to depart from the dominant Gothic style of the 19th century. The new church was to be named for St Alphege, the local saint
who had been martyred as Archbishop of Canterbury in 1022.
The Architect
The choice of architect was fortunate. Giles Gilbert Scott had achieved distinction at a very young age by winning the design competition
for the very large Anglican Cathedral in Liverpool, a project which was to occupy him for the rest of his life. He had continued to build
many other imposing buildings. At the time of Father Rutherford's dream Scott had been working on his extension of the nave at Downside Abbey.
He had recently returned from a visit to Rome and gladly accepted Rutherford's commission for St Alphege's. It was to be his first design in
the Romanesque style.
Realisation
Scott's design was inspired by the ancient church of St Maria of Cosmedin, Rome, and he distilled the main elements of that much larger
building into a small parish church. The plan was for a rectanglar basilica church some 37m by 15m to seat 400. The nave was separated from the
side aisles by six rounded arches and five pillars each side. The sanctuary was raised above the level of the nave and terminated in a shallow apse.
The honey coloured stone contrasted with the rich blue of the flooring. Lighting was by decorative
golden sunburst fittings suspended above the nave. The whole was dominated by the stately baldacchino above the altar.
Externally a three-bay loggia porch served entrance to the church. A tall campanile was to be constructed at a later date, together with the
Lady Chapel, sacristy, west gallery, presbytery and hall. The external effect was severe in contrast to the warm interior.
The foundation stone was laid in 1927, the builders being Jacob Long & Co. The church opened with a Solemn Blessing and High Mass in July 1929.
Giles Gilbert Scott's Description
Initially the church was used as a chapel-of-ease served by the Father Prior (parish priest) of St John's, but the Benedictines left Bath in 1932
and in 1937 St Alphege's was made a parish church and its first secular parish priest appointed.
Recognition
In spite of the quality of the design and construction, for many years the church was not widely known.
Even in Bath itself many of the citizens were not aware of it, due in part to its location, tucked away in a corner of Oldfield Park.
In 1958 when Nikolas Pevsner produced his book on the buildings of North Somerset & Bristol in the notable series The Buildings of England
he failed to mention St Alphege's.
In recent years, just as there has been a growth in recognition of Scott as one of the great architects of the 20th century,
so has the world started to become aware of St Alphege's. In 2003 Yale University Press published a book on Bath buildings in their
Pevsner Architectural City Guides Series. In his description of St Alphege's the author, Michael Forsyth, claimed "it cannot fail to astonish
and delight".
In 2006 the outstanding English Heritage volume on Catholic Churches in England and Wales,
A Glimpse of Heaven by Christopher Martin, brought
St Alphege's to a wider public with its photograhs and description. Perhaps even more awareness has been brought about through the
medium of the World Wide Web!
Official recognition came in 2010 when the the Secretary of State for Tourism and Heritage decided to upgrade the church to Grade II*
status after consulting English Heritage. Grade II* is awarded to “particularly important buildings of more than special interest”.
Listen to an Audio Tour of St Alphege's Church with Tom Bigwood of Clifton Diocese on Podcast 60
See our other pages:
Click on the Rob Oldfield photos of the portico
below to see larger versions.
