Daily prayers in Ordinary Time with USPG: (45) 12 July 2023

Holy Trinity Church, Rathmines … with Semple’s distinctive pinnacles and deep-set windows and doors (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

We are in Ordinary Time in the Church Calendar, and this week began with the Fifth Sunday after Trinity (9 July 2023).

Before this day begins, I am taking some time this morning for prayer, reading and reflection.

Over these weeks after Trinity Sunday, I have been reflecting each morning in these ways:

1, Looking at relevant images or stained glass window in a church, chapel or cathedral I know;

2, the Gospel reading of the day in the Church of England lectionary;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary.

Holy Trinity Church, Rathmines, was designed by John Semple, the ‘presiding genius of the Board of First Fruits’ (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Holy Trinity Church, Rathmines, Dublin:

Over the years, I have on occasions been invited to preside at the Eucharist, preach, and take part in many other services in Holy Trinity Church, Rathmines.

For four years, from 2002 to 2006, I worked in Belgrave Road, only a few footsteps away from this church. This is one of the three of four landmark buildings in Rathmines, the others being the Clock Tower on the old Town Hall, the Carnegie Library at the end of Leinster Road, and the green copper dome on the Roman Catholic parish church.

But Holy Trinity Church, Rathmines, is also an important church architecturally as one of the churches designed in the Gothic style by John Semple before Pugin’s arrival in Ireland. His other churches in Dublin include the Church of Ireland parish church in Kiltiernan (1826); Saint Mary’s Church, Donnybrook (1827); Saint Maelruain’s Church, Tallaght (1829); Saint Mary’s, otherwise known as the Black Church, in Saint Mary’s Place (1830); and the parish church in Monkstown (1833).

Maurice Craig has described Semple as the ‘presiding genius of the Board of First Fruits.’ He was the board’s architect for the Province of Dublin, and he invented his peculiar brand of Gothic, flinging to the winds every notion of scholarship and orthodoxy. This style is like his paintings: he reduced everything to the severest geometry, including buttresses, pinnacles and mouldings, so that everything is expressed as a contrast of planes.

It was said that in his final years Archbishop William Magee (1822-1831) would only consecrate churches that could be used as fortresses because he suffered from delusions, believing that the Protestant population was under siege and in danger of being massacred. Perhaps this fear explains why Urbs Fortitudinis is still a favourite canticle in the Church of Ireland. It may also explain why Semple built so many churches with such extraordinary solidity.

Semple’s church in Monkstown is adorned with towers and turrets, ‘for all the world like chessmen,’ according to Craig. Inside, there is an elaborate internal plaster vault to simulate masonry, described by Semple’s contemporaries as ‘a mule between the Gothics and Saracens.’

Peter Costello even suggests that Semple’s Moorish elements may have been inspired by the Alhambra in Granada – Washington Irving’s Tales of the Alhambra had been published in 1832.

Semple’s church in Church Avenue, Rathmines, has his distinctive pinnacles and deep-set windows and doors. The three wide gables, the tall steeple, and the plain exterior are all typical of Semple’s interpretation of Gothic.

The church stands on an island in the middle of the road where Church Avenue and Belgrave Road meet. It was built 195 years ago in 1828 as a chapel-of-ease for Saint Peter’s Church in Aungier Street, now long demolished. Holy Trinity was consecrated on 1 June 1828 by Archbishop Magee, but Rathmines did not become a separate parish until 1883. Since then, the parish has only had seven rectors.

The vestry walls are lined with photographs of past rectors, including Canon Ernest Lewis-Crosby (1914-1924), who later became Dean of Christ Church Cathedral (1938-1961), and who was still dean when he died at the age of 97. His successor and biographer, Evelyn Charles Hodges (1924-1927), later became Bishop of Limerick (1943-1960).

The present rector of Rathmines is Revd Rob Jones, who was the curate to his predecessor, Canon Neill McEndoo.

The eagle lectern in Holy Trinity Church, Rathmines (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Matthew 10: 1-7 (NRSVA):

1 Then Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness. 2 These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon, also known as Peter, and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; 3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax-collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed him.

5 These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: ‘Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, 6 but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 As you go, proclaim the good news, “The kingdom of heaven has come near”.’

‘Till He Come’ … Holy Trinity Church, Rathmines, was built in 1829 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayer:

The theme this week in ‘Pray With the World Church,’ the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is ‘Fighting Climate Change Appeal – Hermani’s story’. This theme was introduced on Sunday.

Find out more HERE.

The Prayer in the USPG Prayer Diary today (12 July 2023) invites us to pray:

We pray for the Earth, for nature, for all that surrounds us. Help us care for it and protect it.

Collect:

Almighty and everlasting God,
by whose Spirit the whole body of the Church
is governed and sanctified:
hear our prayer which we offer for all your faithful people,
that in their vocation and ministry
they may serve you in holiness and truth
to the glory of your name;
through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Post Communion:

Grant, O Lord, we beseech you,
that the course of this world may be so peaceably ordered
by your governance,
that your Church may joyfully serve you in all godly quietness;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The Williamson monument in Holy Trinity Church, Rathmines (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Yesterday’s reflection

Continued tomorrow

Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org

The offices of Holy Trinity Church on Lower Rathmines Road (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Coventry mural honours Gordon Cullen’s ‘Townscape’ and architectural vision

The Cullen Mural in the Lower Precinct, Coventry … honouring the architect who gave us the concept of ‘Townscape’ (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023; click on images to view full-size)

Patrick Comerford

What comes to mind first when you think of Coventry?

Basil Spence’s Cathedral?

The Blitz?

Being sent to Coventry?

Bikes and cars?

‘Coventry blue’?

Lady Godiva?

Watchmaking?

Philip Larkin, perhaps?

When most people think of Coventry and its ‘townscape,’ I imagine, they think too of brash, modern architecture, and forget that much of mediaeval Coventry was not wiped out in the Blitz, as I was reminded in recent weeks when I visited Spon End, Holy Trinity Church, Ford’s Hospital, the ruins of Whitefriars, Saint Mary’s Hall and Cheylesmore Manor.

Yet, contrary to popular notions, much of Coventry’s post-war architecture was a brave and innovative effort to build a proud new city after the devastation of the Blitz.

The Precinct has been renovated in recent decades, with new water features and shared public space, along with finding a new location for a ceramic mural designed in 1958 by the architect, artist and writer, Thomas Gordon Cullen (1914-1994), for the people of Coventry as an important feature of the post-war reconstruction of the city centre.

The mural was commissioned by the City Planning and Redevelopment Committee, on the recommendation of Arthur Ling, Chief Architect to the Corporation.

Cullen became a cult figure in architectural circles in the post-war period when his ideas for the improvement of towns and the control of traffic were frequently published. He is credited as originator of the term ‘Townscape’ which became the title of his book on the subject published in 1961.

Cullen is well-known for the opening sentence that introduced one of his articles: ‘There is only one way to enjoy what a town has to offer the eye, and that is the pedestrian’s way.’

The Cullen Mural was originally sited at the entrance to the Lower Precinct in Coventry (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

The mural was originally sited at the entrance to the Lower Precinct on the ramp leading down to the lower level and on adjacent walls. It originally included maps of the mediaeval city and the new Coventry, drawn in the style of maps of the periods.

The main mural had images of the early Coventry, from pre-historic to the late mediaeval and including the Georgian and the modern era, with references to the city’s then industries. Sadly, the mediaeval maps were destroyed through careless workmanship in the 1970s.

The redevelopment of the Lower Precinct by Arrowcroft Group Plc, funded by Scottish Life was completed in 2002. This, involved widening the ramp entrance of the Lower Precinct to improve the principal access. This involved relocating the mural to a new location.

In their original position, the tiles were securely bonded onto a 450 mm thick concrete retaining wall, from which they could not have been removed without causing damage to the mural.

Arrowcroft, with the support of their building contractor, Costain-Skanska, agreed a method statement with English Heritage so that the wall was cut from the rear into slices, each weighing between 2.5 and 3.5 tons. These were lifted by crane to the new, current location in the Precinct, where the wall sections were re-assembled to recreate the mural.

The tiles were then treated by specialist ceramic restorers, Jackfield Conservation Studio, to remove accumulated deposits and to repair the mural to a condition in which it can be appreciated as an important element in the city’s modern history.

The present panels depict: Pre-Historic Times, Post-War Regeneration, the Motor Car, Watch Making; the Bicycle Industry, 18th century Ribbon Making, and the Post-War Masterplan.

The mural is also a tribute to the life and creativity of Gordon Cullen who was a key motivator in the Townscape movement. Cullen presented a new theory and methodology for urban visual analysis and design based on the psychology of perception, such as on the human need for visual stimulation and the notions of time and space.

Cullen was born in Calverley, Pudsey, near Leeds, in 1914 and studied architecture at the Royal Polytechnic Institution, now the University of Westminster. He later worked as a draughtsman in various offices including Berthold Lubetkin and Tecton, although he never actually qualified or practised as an architect.

Because of his poor eyesight Cullen was not conscripted during World War II, and instead he worked in the planning office of the Development and Welfare Department in Barbados in 1944-1946.

When he returned to London, he joined the Architectural Review as a draughtsman and then as a writer on planning policies. He produced a large number of influential editorials and case studies on the theory of planning and the design of towns, influencing many improvements in the urban and rural environment in the 1950s and 1960s.

His mural in the foyer of Greenside Primary School in west London, designed by Erno Goldfinger, was completed in 1953. His ceramic mural in Coventry, depicting the history of the city and its post-war regeneration, is on a much grander scale, and was completed in 1958.

As a freelance writer and consultant, Cullen advised Liverpool and Peterborough on their city reconstruction and redevelopment plans. In the 1960s he advised the planning aspects of the Ford Foundation’s work in New Delhi and Calcutta. His later work included advising the city of Glasgow and the London Docklands Development Corporation.

He formed the architectural practice of Price & Cullen, with a former student, David Price, and they designed the Swedish Quays housing development in the London Docklands.

Cullen lived in the small village of Wraysbury in Berkshire from 1958 until he died at the age of 80, on 11 August 1994.

He book Townscape (1961) remains an important work on architecture and town planning, and has been republished in later editions as The Concise Townscape.

The Cullen Mural is a tribute to the life and creativity of Gordon Cullen who was a key motivator in the ‘Townscape’ movement (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)