Westminster Jews’ Free School closed 80 years ago, but the building remains a landmark

The former Westminster Jews’ Free School on Hanway Place, off Tottenham Court Road and Oxford Street(Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Patrick Comerford

I posed, in jest, a conundrum the other day, asking why there are no Greek cafés or restaurants on Greek Street in Soho. But, of course, in my discussion of the cultural diversity of that one street in Soho – from Greek and French to Italian and Irish, all contributing to the mosaic of life in England today – I ought to have referred too to the Jewish school that was on Greek Street for many years.

The Westminster Jews’ Free School was established by the independent Western Synagogue in 1811, before the government provided any funds for education. The school was founded under the auspices of the Western Synagogue to teach Hebrew, English, writing and arithmetic.

Originally, the aim of the school was ‘that male children of the Jewish persuasion (whose parents are unable to afford them education) be instructed in Hebrew and English reading, writing and arithmetic; that the principle of religion be carefully inculcated, and every exertion used to render them good and useful members of society.’

The school was formalised in 1820, it was funded by voluntary contributions and classes were held at the teachers’ homes. By 1837, the school committee had decided to rent a premises in Stanhope Street but by 1843 this was too small and a new school was opened at 59-60 Greek Street, opposite the Pillars of Hercules, which I was writing about earlier this week.

The children were admitted from age 5 to 12 and discharged at 13. As well as teaching, the boys received gifts of clothing and on his bar mitzvah each boy was given an entire new outfit was provided.

The equivalent girls’ school opened at Richmond Buildings, 21 Dean Street, in 1846. Shortly after, it too moved to 59-60 Greek Street. Its aims were ‘For the diffusion of religion and knowledge of moral and social principles among the young and ignorant.’

The two schools were amalgamated in 1853 and named the Westminster Jews’ Free School. By the time education was made compulsory and school boards were set up in the 1870s, it was a large, successful establishment.

The school moved from Greek Street to Hanway Place in 1883 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

The school remained at 59-60 Greek Street for 40 years. But by 1882, it was obvious the school was no longer big enough. A new school that could accommodate 500 children was built on the north side of Hanway Place, a narrow lane near the corner of Tottenham Court Road and Oxford Street, and it was consecrated in July 1883.

Because the school was located between Bloomsbury and Soho, it brought together an economically diverse Jewish community. The school charged fees to attend, but many scholarships were available. The school management committee included members of the prominent and wealthy Montefiore and Rothschild families and wealthy local businessmen and investors who saw the school as both a charitable and religious undertaking.

The wages and resources for teachers were much better than schools of comparative size in similar areas, staff turnover was low, teachers stayed for years, wages were increased regularly.

School prizes were endowed by prominent figures, including Sir David Salomons was the first Jewish Lord Mayor of London, one of the first Jewish MPs and a founder of the London and Westminster bank, and his nephew, Sir David Lionel Salomons. Yet, despite this, many of the children came from families that still lived in poverty well into the early 20th century.

At its peak, the school had 700 children on its rolls. But attendance was falling off by the 1930s, and the last pupil enrolled in 1939. A famous pupil was Harry Ehrengott, the only fireman during World War II who was awarded the George Cross for bravery, the highest honour that can be awarded to a civilian.

After the end of World War II 80 years ago, Westminster Jews’ Free School finally closed on 31 December 1945.

The former Westminster Jews’ Free School was converted into flats and offices in the late 1990s. But the name of the school is still to be seen in the beautiful terracotta decoration and lettering.

Shabbat Shalom, שבת שלום

Westminster Jews’ Free School closed 80 years ago on 31 December 1945 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Daily prayer in Ordinary Time 2025: 76, Thursday 24 July 2025

Looking with eyes and listening with ears … street art in Rathmines, Dublin (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Patrick Comerford

We are continuing in Ordinary Time in the Church and this week began with the Fifth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity V, 20 July 2025).

Before today begins, I am taking some quiet time this morning to give thanks, for reflection, prayer and reading in these ways:

1, today’s Gospel reading;

2, a reflection on the Gospel reading;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary;

4, the Collects and Post-Communion prayer of the day.

‘Seeing they do not perceive, and hearing they do not listen, nor do they understand’ (Matthew 13: 8) … street art in Iraklion (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Matthew 13: 10-17 (NRSVA):

10 Then the disciples came and asked him, ‘Why do you speak to them in parables?’ 11 He answered, ‘To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. 12 For to those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. 13 The reason I speak to them in parables is that “seeing they do not perceive, and hearing they do not listen, nor do they understand.” 14 With them indeed is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah that says:

“You will indeed listen, but never understand,
and you will indeed look, but never perceive.
15 For this people’s heart has grown dull,
and their ears are hard of hearing,
and they have shut their eyes;
so that they might not look with their eyes,
and listen with their ears,
and understand with their heart and turn –
and I would heal them.”

16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. 17 Truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.’

‘They … listen with their ears, and understand with their heart and turn’ (Matthew 13: 15) … ‘Reflections of Bedford’, a sculpture by Rick Kirby on Silver Street (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

This morning’s reflection:

In the Gospel reading at the Eucharist yesterday (Matthew 13: 1-9), the quotation from Jesus began and ended with the word ‘Listen.’ In this morning’s reading, he speaks about those who seeing but do not perceive, who hearing but do not listen or understand.

Today’s reading continues from the Parables of the Kingdom and forms an interlude between the parable of the sower and its interpretation. Jesus is asked by the disciples why he speaks to the people in parables.

There seems to be an implication that Jesus is speaking clearly to his disciples, who are insiders, but in riddles to the people because they are outsiders. But this also seem to contradict the purpose of speaking in parables, which is to use helpful and familiar images to lead people to a better understanding of a deeper message. Indeed, the parable of the sower is a good example.

Perhaps once again we are dealing with the difference between ‘insiders’ and ‘outsiders’. The ‘insiders’ are those who give Jesus a ready hearing. Naturally, they are more open to hearing about the ‘mysteries’ of the Kingdom and to assimilating what they hear. The ‘outsiders’, on the other hand, are precisely so because they have closed minds and are not ready to listen.

Speaking of the ‘insiders’, Jesus says: ‘For to those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance, but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away’ (verse 12). Those who have opened themselves to the Word of God will find themselves evermore enriched.

But le those who have not even begun to accept the Word will end up in an even worse predicament than the one they are in now, for they look but do not see, they listen but do not hear or understand (verse 13).

This happens, not because the parables are difficult, but because the hearers are not prepared to listen.

Jesus then quotes from the Prophet Isaiah (9: 13), who might better understood as speaking in an audibly sarcastic tone:

“You will indeed listen, but never understand,
and you will indeed look, but never perceive.
15 For this people’s heart has grown dull,
and their ears are hard of hearing,
and they have shut their eyes;
so that they might not look with their eyes,
and listen with their ears,
and understand with their heart and turn –
and I would heal them.”

I find it disturbing when I realise someone is talking at me rather than to ne, and certainly not talking with me. In a similar way it is disturbing to realise someone hears me, but is not actually listening to me.

At one stage during tense trade union negotiations many years ago, the employer’s representative responded to my presentation, saying: ‘I hear what you are saying.’

I retorted: ‘Yes, but does it just go in one ear and out the other?’

I asked for an adjournment, and from the union side we said we would return to the talks when he indicated he would not only listen to us, but engage with us and comit his side to meaningful discussions. We waited outside for 10 or 15 minutes, and felt we truly were outsiders. We were about to leave the building when we were called back inside. He had heard, and he had listened, and instead of talking to and and at us, he began to talk with us. Confidence was restored, and we soon reached a settlement.

If we are prepared to see and to listen acitvely and to be fully engaged, both actions can make radical changes in our lives, in our attitudes, in our values and priorities, in our relationships. But too many people remain effectively blind and deaf.

‘Lord God, we pray for the House of the Epiphany, bless its mission in training clergy and laity’ (USPG Prayer Diary, 24 July 2025) … the House of the Epiphany, Kuching (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Today’s Prayers (Thursday 24 July 2025):

The theme this week (20 to 26 July) in Pray with the World Church, the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is ‘Diversity in Sarawak’ (pp 20-21). I introduced this theme on Sunday with reflections from Sarawak and the Diocese of Kuching.

The USPG prayer diary today (Thursday 24 July 2025) invites us to pray:

Lord God, we pray for the House of the Epiphany, bless its mission in training clergy and laity. We pray too for diocesan schools, including Saint Thomas’s and Saint Mary’s in Kuching.

The 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.

The Post-Communion Prayer:

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.

Additional Collect:

Almighty God,
send down upon your Church
the riches of your Spirit,
and kindle in all who minister the gospel
your countless gifts of grace;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Collect on the Eve of James:

Merciful God,
whose holy apostle Saint James,
leaving his father and all that he had,
was obedient to the calling of your Son Jesus Christ
and followed him even to death:
help us, forsaking the false attractions of the world,
to be ready at all times to answer your call without delay;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Yesterday’s reflection

Continued tomorrow

‘Lord God, we pray for … diocesan schools, including Saint Thomas’s and Saint Mary’s in Kuching’ (USPG Prayer Diary, 24 July 2025) … Saint Mary’s School, Kuching (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

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

Watford Junction leaves me wondering whether I am now living north or south of Watford

Watford High Street follows the line of an ancient trackway … 70-79 High Street, designed by Sydney Dawe in the 1920s, is on the footprint of an older building (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Patrick Comerford

I pass through Watford regularly on the train from Milton Keynes into London. It is just 24 km (15 miles) or 16 minutes from Euston, and it is also close to several motorway junctions on both the M1 and the M25. But until this week, I had never stopped to visit Watford itself.

In popular conversation and journalism, Watford Gap marks the divide between Northern England and Southern England, and the phrase ‘North of Watford’ usually refers to the north of England, especially to places remote from London. Watford in Northamptonshire is close to the north/south isogloss of the three key hallmarks of Northern English and Southern English: foot–strut split, bad-lad split and the Bath vowel.

Some writers say the original expression refers not to Watford in Northamptonshire but to the much larger Watford town in Hertfordshire and Watford Junction railway station, once the last urban stop on the main railway line out of London to the north of England.

I have been to Watford in Northamptonshire in search of Comberford family links. But Watford Junction is in the other direction from Milton Keynes, and while M1 Watford Gap services lead to the Midlands and the North, Watford Junction is the last urban stop on the main line to Euston for rail users.

I spent much yesterday in Watford, a modern town in Hertfordshire with a population of 102,000 or more. The name Watford is first mentioned in an Anglo-Saxon charter of 1007. The name Watford may come from the Old English waet (full of water) or wath (hunting), and -ford, and the High Street follows the line of part of an ancient trackway from the south-east to the north-west.

Watford developed on the banks of the River Colne on land belonging to St Albans Abbey, which claimed the manor of Casio (‘Albanestou’), dating from a grant by King Offa in AD 793, although it is not mentioned in the Domesday Book (1086).

By the 12th century, the area was part of St Albans Abbey’s manor of Cashio. The Abbey was granted a charter allowing it to hold a market, and Saint Mary’s Church began to be built. The town also grew because it was on the route to Berkhamsted Castle and the royal palace at Kings Langley.

The Cassiobury estate, which came to include Cassiobury House and Cassiobury Park, was granted to Sir Richard Morrison in the 16th century, and became the family seat of the Earls of Essex.

Arthur Capell (1631-1683), 1st Earl of Essex, rebuilt Cassiobury House, which he inherited from his mother, Elizabeth Morrison, daughter and heiress of Sir Charles Morrison (1587-1628). He was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in 1672-1677, and gave his name to Capel Street, Essex Street and Essex Gate in Dublin. Essex was convicted for his role in the Rye House Plot to assassinate Charles II and his brother the Duke of York, the future James II, and he died in the Tower of London in 1683 while awaiting execution for treason.

From 1753-1923, The Grove was the seat of the Villiers family, who were descended from the Capell and Morrison families and who became Earls of Clarendon in 1776.

The Bedford Almshouses, built in 1580, are the oldest houses in Watford, were built in 1580 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

The Bedford Almshouses, built in 1580, are the oldest houses in Watford. They were endowed by Francis Russell (1527-1585), 2nd Earl of Bedford and godfather to Sir Francis Drake, and Russell’s second wife, Bridget Manners, former wife of Sir Richard Morison. They were built in Parsonage Barn Yard, close to Saint Mary’s Church, to provide housing ‘for eight poor women.’

The almshouses are Grade II listed and continue to provide housing as a charitable trust under the Bedford, Morison and Cordery Almshouses for 18 single men and women over the age of 60.

The earliest known schools in Watford include one run by George Redhead in 1595, a Free School near Saint Mary’s churchyard in 1640, and a Free School endowed by Elizabeth Fuller (1644-1709) of Watford Place in 1704. Her home was at Watford Place, although the white villa on the site is said to be the third house there, built around 1790.

Elizabeth Fuller of Watford Place endowed a Free School in 1704 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

When Daniel Defoe visited Watford in 1778, he described it as a ‘genteel market town, very long, having but one street.’

Watford remained an agricultural community with some cottage industry for many centuries. The Industrial Revolution brought the Grand Junction Canal (now Grand Union Canal) from 1798 and the London and Birmingham Railway from 1837. The canal and the railway brought rapid growth, with paper-making mills such as John Dickinson at Croxley, followed by the development of printing, as well as two brewers, Benskins and Sedgwicks, who flourished in Watford until the late 20th century.

As the town expanded, King Street, a new street off the High Street, opened in 1851, followed by Queens Road and Clarendon Road in the 1860s. Watford expanded rapidly in the decades that followed, with new inhabitants moving in from London, resulting in cramped and unsanitary houses that partly explain riots that erupted in 1902. A slum clearance programme was interrupted by World War I in 1914, but resumed in the 1920s.

By then, printing had become the biggest industry in Watford, with Sun Printers and Odhams Press, and for a time Watford was the biggest printing centre, until the printing industry went into decline after World War II. Odhams Press closed in 1978 and the Sun moved out of Watford in the 1980s.

In the Atria shopping centre in the heart of Watford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

In the heart of Watford, the High Street has a high concentration of bars, clubs and restaurants. The Harlequin Shopping Centre, which opened in 1992, was renamed ‘intu Watford’ in 2013, and is now known as Atria Watford.

In recent decades, Watford’s proximity to London and good rail and road links have attracted several businesses to the town. Watford has the head offices of a number of national companies such as JD Wetherspoon, and is the UK base of many multinationals, including Hilton Worldwide and JJ Kavanagh and Sons, Ireland’s largest private coach operator, was founded in 1919 with a service connecting Urlingford and Kilkenny City.

The Grove in Watford has been the venue for many international conferences and sporting events, including the 2006 World Golf Championship, the 2013 Bilderberg Conference and the 2019 NATO summit.

Watford has 92 listed buildings in Watford, including Saint Mary’s Church, which dates from the 12th century, and Holy Rood Church, dating from 1890. Cassiobury House was demolished in 1927, but the park has become one of the best green spaces in England. Other public parks and gardens in Watford include Cheslyn House and Gardens and Woodside Park.

The Palace Theatre in Watford opened in 1908 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

The Watford Palace Theatre opened in 1908 and is the only producing theatre in Hertfordshire. The Palace Theatre was built in 1908 by WA Theobald and the red brick front was added in 1909-1910 by Wylson and Long. At the ends are tall towers with leaded domes and a frieze has a panel inscribed ‘Palace Theatre’. The entrances are under a flat canopy. Inside are two curved galleries and stage boxes.

The Pump House Theatre and Arts Centre is based in an old pumping station off the Lower High Street. Watford Colosseum has been the venue for concerts by Maria Callas (1954) and Luciano Pavarotti (1995), and is also a venue for plays, charity events, snooker championships and boxing fixtures.

Watford Museum has a collection that includes works by JMW Turner, Sir Joshua Reynolds, William Blake and Jacob Epstein.

Perhaps the major tourist attraction in Watford today is the Warner Bros Studios, an 80-ha film studio complex at Leavesden, about 4 km (2.5 miles) north of the town centre, in the former de Havilland factory.

The studios have been the location for many Hollywood productions, but the big attraction is that this is where the Harry Potter films were made. There are queues outside Watford Junction station throughout the day for a special shuttle bus to the studios.

However, I was not in search of Harry Potter or the Philosopher’s Stone … nor was I wondering whether I now live north of Watford or south of Watford. Instead, I wanted to see some of the churches, especially Saint Mary’s and Holy Rood, the synagogues, mosques and gurudwaras and the sculptures around the town, and learning about some of the town’s football history. And so, more about them in the days to come, I hope.

Watford has the head offices of a number of national companies and is the UK base of many multinationals (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Saint Lawrence’s, Towcester, a mediaeval church with a cadaver tomb and where a Pope was once the rector

Saint Lawrence’s Church in the centre of Towcester is close to the Market Square and the Town Hall (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Patrick Comerford

When I was visiting Towcester in Northamptonshire earlier this week, I learned how the local parish is sending ambulances to Ukraine, filled with medical supplies and other aid, including clothing, blankets, and disability aids, and other essential items.

The initiative is led by Saint Lawrence’s Church, Towcester, and the Tove Benefice, which have been working to acquire and fill ambulances with supplies for Ukrainian paramedics. The fundraising initiatives have included a Vicarage Fete and Open Gardens, concerts and hosting families.

In Saint Lawrence’s Church on Monday, I saw yet another ambulance being filled with medical equipment. The ambulance is due to leave Towcester on Sunday (23 March), when Steve Challen from the Tove Benefice and Alex Donaldson begin a 1,350-mile drive to Lviv.

Saint Lawrence’s Church, Towcester, stands on the site of a previous Saxon church and an earlier Roman building (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Saint Lawrence’s Church stands in the centre of Towcester, on Chantry Lane, close to the Market Square and the Town Hall, and near the Castle Mound and the River Tove.

The mediaeval rectors of Towcester included Pope Boniface VIII, who was the rector of before his elevation to the papacy in 1294, and Archdeacon Sponne, the great benefactor of Towcester, whose table tomb and cadaver effigy is one of the most unusual sites in the church.

The church stands on the site of a previous Saxon church, built possibly on the site of an earlier Roman building, possibly a temple or basilica, although there was also a bath house in the area, and small fragments of Roman pavement were found next to the church’s boiler room.

The Saxon church was rebuilt in the Norman period in honour of Saint Wandregisile. Its most famous incumbents were Benedetto Gaetani who became Pope Boniface VIII patron of the great Florentine artist Giotto, and Archdeacon William Sponne the town's great benefactor.

Saint Lawrence’s has a 12th-century Norman transitional ground plan and foundation, probably laid over a Saxon 10th-century stone building.
The oldest portion of the church, dating from ca 1200, is in the Early English style of architecture. The east part of the chancel, with the crypt, is in the decorated style.

The Cross Keys of Saint Peter on a hassock in Saint Lawrence’s … Benedetto Caetani, the Rector of Towcester, became Pope Boniface VIII in 1294 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Benedetto Caetani (1235-1303), the future Pope Boniface VIII, was the Rector of Towcester before he was elevated to the Papacy in 1294 in succession to Celestine V, who had abdicated.

He was born in Anagni, 50 km south-east of Rome, studied canon and civil law in Italy, and became a canon successively in Anagni, Todi, Paris, Lyons and Rome. He accompanied Cardinal Ottobuono Fieschi to England in 1265, and became the Rector of Towcester.

He was consecrated in Rome as Pope Boniface VIII on 23 January 1295. He was a patron of Giotto, commissioning him to work on frescoes in Saint Peter’s Basilica and other churches, and Giotto depicted Boniface VIII in a fresco proclaiming the first Jubilee Year in 1300. Dante places him among the simoniacs in the eighth circle of Hell, Malebolge, in his Divine Comedy. He also founded Sapienza University in Rome in 1303.

The most unusual fixture in the church is the cadaver tomb of the town’s benefactor, Archdeacon William Sponne, who was the Rector at Towcester in 1442-1448.

The chancel, high altar and east window in Saint Lawrence’s Church, Towcester (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Four decades after Sponne, the church was rebuilt in the Perpendicular style in 1480-1485, when it was enhanced with a new tower, a finely decorated west door, the roof was raised to accommodate a clerestory and new aisle windows were added. Permission to quarry stone from Whittlewood Forest for this restoration was granted in 1483 by Edward IV – his wife Elizabeth Woodville was from nearby Grafton Regis. The grant was later confirmed by Richard III before the Battle of Bosworth Field.

The church has a chancel, vestry, north and south chancel chapels, a nave, north and south aisles, a south porch and west tower.

The five-bay chancel has a five-light perpendicular east window, three-light Decorated windows on the north and south side, and three-light clerestory windows with cinquefoil-headed lights and four-centred heads. The chancel has 17th century tie-beam trusses and purlins.

The vestry on the north side has a chamfered Tudor-arched north door. The chancel chapels continue into the aisles that overlap the chancel.

There is a projecting stair turret to the former gallery of rood screen between the north aisle and the chancel chapel.

The Sponne Chapel in the south chancel in Saint Lawrence’s Church, Towcester (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

The sanctuary is raised over a stone-vaulted crypt, and has a tomb recess to the east and an aumbry on the north side. The mid-19th century chancel arch incorporates two Romanesque shafts and with lozenge and zig-zag decorations.

The nave has four-bay arcades with octagonal piers, polygonal responds and double-chamfered arches, and three re-used 13th century capitals.

At the west end of the nave, there is a triple-chamfered tower arch.

The chapel in the south chancel or Sponne Chapel has a wide ogee-arched niche and a Pelican in her Piety painted on the back wall. The fragments of 15th century stained glass in the east window of the chapel include Sponne’s heraldic arms moved from Talbot Inn, previously the Tabard Inn, once owned by Sponne’s charity. His arms are surrounded by fragments of green drapery and canopy work.

The octagonal font has a panelled bowl on crocketed nodding ogee arches.

The octagonal font in Saint Lawrence’s Church has a panelled bowl on crocketed nodding ogee arches (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

The tall three-stage west tower has a many-moulded west doorway, a deep hollow-chamfered surround with an ogee-arched hood mould within a panelled recess and old double-leaf studded doors. There is a three-light Perpendicular window above. The tower has a peal of 12 bells and a chime of nine bells that many regard as among the finest in the Midlands. The bells were moved in 1994 from Todmorden in Yorkshire.

The Caroline courtier Sir Robert Banastre of Passenham paid for reroofing the chancel in 1640.

The church was restored in 1835-1836, and again half a century later in 1883 by John Loughborough Pearson (1817-1897), who was the architect of Truro Cathedral (1879-1910) and the Fitzrovia Chapel (1890), London. He also added the two towers at the west end of Bristol Cathedral and designed additions to Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, in 1890.

The monuments in the church include an alabaster wall monument to Jerome Farmore, who died in 1602, with small kneeling figures facing each other at a prayer desk in scalloped niches, flanked by Corinthian colonettes.

The table tomb and cadaver of Archdeacon William Sponne, Rector of Towcester in 1422-1448 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

The most striking and unusual monument in the church is the table tomb and cadaver of Archdeacon William Sponne, who was the Rector of Towcester in 1422-1448. It is a double tomb chest, with an the effigy of Sponne, dressed as a cathedral canon on top, and his skeleton below, within an arcade.

William Sponne was educated in Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, before becoming Rector of Heavingham and Blofield in Norfolk. He became Archdeacon of Norfolk in 1419, and in 1422 he became Rector of Towcester, a post he held until he was succeeded by Thomas Taylard in 1447.

Sponne died a year later in 1448. He had bought the Tabard Inn (later the Talbot Inn) and its lands in 1440 and in his will he left the income to found a chantry and school in Towcester, to help the poor and to repair the footways in the town.

The small college or chantry Sponne founded had two priests, one to say mass for Sponne in the chapel at the east end of the south aisle of the church, the other to teach children of the town.

The carved oak head and hands of Archdeacon William Sponne were missing for a century (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Cadaver tombs or table tombs were fashionable between 1420 and 1480, but surviving examples are rare, with only about 150 still in existence. Sponne’s fully clothed effigy in Saint Lawrence’s is dressed in a cassock, surplice and tippet, with fur-lined sleeves and collar.

The head and hands were carved locally of oak, with his face as a portrait. They were removed in 1884 and were lost. Over time the figure has been repainted several times and not always in the same colours. A Sunday newspaper reported a near disaster in the early 1980s when Archdeacon Sponne was repainted and considerable restoration work was needed to repair the damage.

The missing face and hands were rediscovered in the vicarage attics in the 1980s, but the wooden appendages were thought to be replacements. However, radiocarbon dating in 1984 confirmed that the wooden head is the original and the head and hands were restored to the tomb in 1992.

The sides of the tomb are open arches and Sponne’s heraldic arms of are repeated on the ledge. Inside the arches in the lower section is a representation of Sponne’s emaciated corpse, indicative of mortality and evidently meant to teach humility.

The monument was moved from the chancel in 1835 to make room for new pews. When it was moved, it was reported, the skeleton was in a perfect state of preservation, lying on a bed of fine white sand. Within a few hours of the grave being opened, however, the bones had crumbled to dust. The tomb has since been returned to its former position.

The east window in Saint Lawrence’s was erected in 1898 to mark Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

The large five-light east window with perpendicular tracery is flanked by two three-light windows on the north and south.

The east window was erected, against a backdrop of fierce local opposition, in 1898 to commemorate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee. The richly painted stained glass window it replaced had been previously donated by John Lovell and Ann Sabin. But, with the support of influential people and the Church Commissioners, the vicar overruled both his parishioners and the diocesan chancellor and raised the necessary funds for a new window.

The window was designed by Harvey Harry Alexander Hymers of Chelsea, and the main scene depicts the Crucifixion. Other images in the window include the four patrons of this islands: Saint George with a dragon; Saint Andrew with a saltire cross; Saint Patrick with snakes under his feet; and Saint David with a dove descending.

Two crowned shields are inscribed the dates 1837 and 1897, and the royal arms are encircled by the Garter.

The west window by Agnes Charles depcicts the Days of Creation (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

The West Window is a modern window in memory of Emily Moran of Codicote, Hertfordshire, who died in 1968. The window, made by Agnes Charles of Codicote, is designed to be read from the top down, each light separately:

A 1-6: God in Trinity flanked by angels and the redeemed on the seventh day of Creation;
7a: Creation of Adam;
6a: Creation of Eve;
5a: Paradise;
4a: The Temptation;
3a: God confronts Adam and Eve;
2a: Expulsion from Paradise;
1a: Adam delving and Eve spinning (Genesis 2: 7 to 3: 24);
B 7b: First Day of Creation;
6b: Second Day of Creation;
5b: Third Day of Creation;
4b: Fourth Day of Creation;
3b: Fifth Day of Creation;
1-2b: Sixth Day of Creation (Genesis 1: 1-31);
C 7c: The Annunciation (Luke 1: 26-31); 6c: The Nativity (Luke 2: 4-7);
5c: The Baptism of Christ (Matthew 3: 13-17);
4c: The Transfiguration (Matthew 17: 1-8);
3c: The Crucifixion (Matthew 27: 33-44);
2c: The Harrowing of Hell (I Peter 3: 18-20);
1c: Pentecost (Acts 2: 1-4).

Before he died in 1976, BJ Moran commissioned his neighbour, the artist Agnes Charles, to make the window in memory of his wife. BJ Moran and Agnes Charles met the former vicar of Towcester, Canon Douglas Curtis, and his wife Susan on a painting holiday in Greece.

BJ Moran died in 1976 and the window was dedicated by Dr Leslie Brown, former Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich, in 1982.

The late 17th century vicarage on Moat Lane in Towcester (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

The late 17th century vicarage on Moat Lane was extended 1854 by the Northampton architect Edmund Francis Law (1810-1882). He also restored Saint Mary’s Church, Roade, in the 1850s and 1860s, Saint John the Baptist Church, Blisworth, in 1856 and Saint Mary’s Church, Badby, in 1880-1881. His other works in the area includes the lychgate on Calverton Road, Stony Stratford (1856-1857).

Law practised in Northampton from 1837, based in Priory Cottage. He was Northamptonshire County and Northampton Town Surveyor and was Mayor of Northampton in 1859. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA) in 1862 on the proposal of Sir George Gilbert Scott. His son, Edmund Law (1840-1904), was an architect in his practice, and he too was Northamptonshire County and Northampton Town Surveyor.

Interesting details in the vicarage include a datestone with fluted pilasters supporting a frieze, and a panel with the heraldic arms of Sir Robert Banastre, inscribed S/RB/1613.

A datestone on the vicarage with the heraldic arms of Sir Robert Banastre (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Beside the church, the Chantry House is a Grade II listed 15th century house that now serves as the Tove Benefice office. The house was built as a house for the two priests serving Archdeacon Sponne’s chantry, which was suppressed at the Reformation. The house was bought back in 1552 by the trustees of Sponne’s Charity for use as a grammar school, and it served as the school and master’s house until 1866.

This two-storey, four-window range house has a studded plank door in a moulded wood surround and a late 18th century doorcase. The projecting tower to the left was originally a stair-turret. The gateway dates from the 15th century.

The Chantry House was bequeathed to the then incumbent, the Revd James Atwell, and the Churchwardens of Towcester by Alice Jenkinson in 1982. After fundraising and renovation work, it opened in 1987 as the parish office, with rooms available for community use.

The Chantry House, built in the 15th century, now serves as the Tove Benefice office (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

• The Tove Benefice is in the Diocese of Peterborough is centred on Towcester and includes the parishes of Bradden, Easton Neston, Greens Norton and Towcester with Caldecote. The Revd Paula Challen is the Rector of the Tove Benefice. There is a service in Saint Lawrence’s Church every Sunday at 9:15 am and a service at 11:15 am in one of the other churches in the benefice.

Inside Saint Lawrence’s Church, Towcester, facing the west end from the High Altar and chancel (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

11.5 million people in the world’s prisons, in schools and colleges, or reading this blog

The Clink Prison Museum in Southwark, the site of the oldest prison in Britain … there are 11.5 million prisoners worldwide (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

This blog reached yet another new peak at lunchtime early this afternoon (10 March 2025), totalling up 11.5 million hits since I first began blogging almost 15 years ago, back in 2010.

Once again, I find this is both a humbling statistic and a sobering figure that leaves me not with a sense of achievement but a feeling of gratitude to all who read and support this blog and my writing.

After I began blogging, it took almost two years until July 2012 to reach half a million readers. It was over a year before this figure rose to 1 million by September 2013; 2 million in June 2015; 3 million by October 2016; 4 million on 19 November 2019; 5 million on 27 March 2021; 6 million on 1 July 2022; 7 million on 13 August 2023; 8 million by 30 April 2024; and 9 million on 21 October 2024.

But the rise in the number of readers has been phenomenal in the past two months or so, reaching 9.5 million on 4 January 2025, 10 million over a week later (12 January 2025), 10.5 million two days after that (14 January 2025), and 11 million a month ago on 12 February 2025.

Indeed, January 2025 was the first month this blog ever had 1 million hits in one single month – or even within a fortnight – with 1 million hits by mid-January, in the early hours of 14 January, and a total of 1,420,383 by the end of that month (31 January 2025).

In recent months, the daily figures have been overwhelming on occasions, and nine of the 10 days of busiest traffic on this blog have been in January 2025 alone, and the other one of those ten busiest days was last month:

• 289,076 (11 January 2025)
• 285,366 (12 January 2025)
• 261,422 (13 January 2025)
• 100,291 (10 January 2025)
• 64,077 (14 January 2025)

• 55,344 (25 January 2025)
• 52,831 (27 January 2025)
• 42,946 (26 January 2025)
• 36,465 (19 February 2025)
• 35,574 (24 January 2025)

This blog has already had over 2 million hits this year, almost 18 per cent of all hits it has received.

With this latest landmark figure of 11.5 million hits by today, over 1.4 million hits in January alone, and over half a million hits within the past month, I once again find myself asking questions such as:

• What do 11.5 million people look like?
• Where do we find 11.5 million people?
• What would £11.5 million, €11.5 million or $11.5 million buy?
• How far away would 11.5 million miles be?

Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge … there are 11.5 million full-time students and school children in England and Wales (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Countries with a population of about 11.5 million people include Belgium, Bolivia, the Dominican Republic and Haiti.

Cities with a population of about 11.5 million people include Moscow, the most populous city and the capital of the Russian Federation, according to official Russian statistics.

In Germany, the large metropolitan area of Rhine-Ruhr has about 11.5 million inhabitants in Cologne, Düsseldorf, Dortmund and other centres.

Across England and Wales, there are 11.5 million full-time students and schoolchildren out of a total 56.4 million residents, according to census figures.

There are about 11.5 million Christians in Côte d’Ivoire, or about 40 per cent of the population.

Over 11.5 million people have been displaced in Sudan, including over 3.5 million people who have fled to neighbouring countries, so that Sudan remains the world's largest internal displacement crisis.

The Irish aid and development agency Goal reached 11.5 million across the world last year.

About 11.5 million people are held in prisons and penal institutions throughout the world, according to the World Prison Population List, with countries around the world building new jails to house them, as the Guardian has reported this morning.

Lichfield District Council has plans that involve spending £11.5 million on new leisure facilities across Lichfield and Burntwood.

The emissions from burning oil and gas produced by Shell, BP, TotalEnergies, ExxonMobil and Chevron until 2050 could cause an estimated 11.5 million additional premature deaths due to heat before the end of the century, according to an analysis by Global Witness.

The Panama Papers are 11.5 million leaked documents – or 2.6 terabytes of data – published since 3 April 2016.

At its height, the Second French colonial empire extended to 11.5 million sq km in 1920, with French territories on every continent.

And, within the category of items of useless information that become useful in table quizes, 11.5 million hours is equal to 1,275,000 days, or a little over 3,400 years, and 11.5 million minutes is a little over 5 years and 3 months.

One of the most warming figures personally in the midst of all these statistics is the one that shows how my morning prayer diary reached by an average of 80 people each day in February. It is almost three years now since I retired from active parish ministry. But I think many of my priest-colleagues would be prayerfully thankful if the congregations in their churches averaged 550-560 people a week.

Today, I am very grateful to all 11.5 million readers and viewers of this blog to date, and for the small core group among them who join me in prayer, reading and reflection each morning.

Lichfield Cathedral School, once the Bishop’s Palace … there are 11.5 million full-time students and school children in England and Wales (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Lichfield Discovered gets a new home in the old grammar school thanks to district council

The Schoolmaster’s House (left) at the old Grammar School on Saint John Street, Lichfield … a new home for Lichfield Discovered (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Patrick Comerford

I was in Lichfield last week as a guest of the community heritage and history group Lichfield Discovered at the ‘house warmer’ to unveil plans for the Schoolmaster’s House at the old Grammar School on Saint John Street.

Lichfield Discovered has plans to use the rooms in the centuries-old buildings for workshops, tours, events, talks and exhibitions for an initial five-year period, under an agreement with Lichfield District Council.

The former school buildings at the corner of Saint John Street and Frog Lane were bought by Lichfield Rural District Council in 1917 and became council's offices in 1920. In recent years, the rooms have been part of the council offices, for two centuries the property was part of Lichfield Grammar School, where both Samuel Johnson and David Garrick went to school. But, until now, the building has not been open to the public.

The oldest surviving part of the complex is the former headmaster’s house at 45 Saint John Street, built in 1682. The main school room behind the house was rebuilt in 1849. The features that still remain include wood panelling, fireplaces and a wooden spiral staircase up to the attic, which was once used as a dormitory by school boarding pupils and still has some of their names carved into doors.

Lichfield Discovered has found a new home at the old grammar school (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

I have been involved with Lichfield Discovered in small ways in the past, including leading a walking tour around the Cathedral Close in 2014, and recording five interviews with Dave Moore for Lichfield Discovered, discussing my family connections with Lichfield, in 2015.

The former school buildings are part of a larger complex that includes the modern offices that are home to Lichfield District Council. Both the council chamber and the office of the leader of the council are housed in two of older buildings, the Old Grammar School and the School Master’s House. These older buildings in the complex date back to 1682, and have a history that goes back even further, over 500 years.

In its day, it is said, the old grammar school in Lichfield ranked alongside schools such as Eton and Winchester. The school was on the same site for more than 400 years. In that time, it provided education to many famous people, who later went on to be influential in their age.

Lichfield Grammar School was founded in 1495 when Bishop William Smyth refounded Saint John’s Hospital (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

The school dates back to November 1495, when William Smyth, Bishop of Lichfield in 1493-1496, refounded the Hospital of Saint John the Baptist and added to it a school for poor children. In the new statutes, Bishop Smyth wrote: ‘It is appointed that there be a Master of Grammar in Priests Orders who shall instruct in grammar all Scholars Gratis, which Master shall receive for his stipend the sum of £10 annually.’

Smyth was a benefactor of a number of educational institutions: he was a co-founder of Brasenose College, Oxford, endowed a fellowship in Oriel College, and gave manors to Lincoln College.

The first school probably stood nearer the road than its successors and must have been demolished before 1577 as a deed from the 27 April 1577 describes the ‘new school’.

The Schoolmaster’s House was built in the Jacobean style in 1682, and fronts onto Saint John Street. The grammar school was separated from Saint John’s Hospital in 1692, but the school continued to use the chapel.

The schoolboys who attended the school included local worthies such the antiquarian Elias Ashmole, the lexicographer Samuel Johnson, the Shakespearean actor David Garrick and the politician and essayist Joseph Addison.

The stone mullioned windows on the ground floor of the building, adjoining the garden, were originally in the second grammar school, which was built in 1577 and demolished in 1849 to make way for the present building. As well as being home to 14 successive headmasters of the grammar school, the attics were also used as dormitories for the boarders. Some of their initials can still be seen carved into the oak doors.

The Jacobean oak fireplace in the house was originally made for No 11 Market Street (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

The site was used as a grammar school until 1903, and the area at the front was used as a playground. In the end, the lack of land meant the school moved to a site on Upper Saint John Street. It merged with King’s Hill Secondary Modern in 1971 to become King Edward VI School.

Meanwhile, the school and master’s house were sold In December 1902 to Theophilus Basil Percy Levett, who promptly sold them two months later to Dr Herbert Major Morgan.

Dr Morgan brought the Jacobean oak fireplace to the house. It was originally made over 400 years ago for the house at 11 Market Street, and its features include carefully carved dragons, wand marine creatures fossilised in the marble.

Lichfield Rural District Council bought the property in 1917, but it was immediately taken over by the army and was used it as a pay office for the Lincolnshire Regiment for the rest of World War I. After World War I, Lichfield Rural District Council regained ownership of the building. It has been used for local government offices since 1920, and the school house now houses the council chamber.

Civic heraldry in the council chamber (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

After the reorganisation of local government in 1974, the building passed to Lichfield District Council. A large extension was added in 1987 facing Frog Lane, incorporating a new main entrance, but the 1849 school room continues to serve as the council chamber. The council leader Doug Pullen was among the speakers at last week’s ‘house warmer.’

Today, Lichfield Discovered has more than 10,000 followers online, including historians, teachers, community workers and museum curators who volunteer in their own time.

Katie Gomez of Lichfield Discovered describes the building as stunning and packed with history, and says she is passionate about using it as a place to share Lichfield’s history and legacy. The future plans include open days, tours of the building, family history days and events in partnership with museums throughout the region.

The former school house now houses the council chamber for Lichfield District Council (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

An early convent and chapel and the ‘Gate of Hope’ have survived as a popular venue in the centre of Singapore

The Gothic Revival chapel at CHIMJES in Singapore, built in 1903-1904, was one of the most elaborate places of worship ever built in Singapore (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

CHIJMES (pronounced ‘chimes’) is a former church building complex in Singapore that is part of the legacy of the Irish-born architect George Drumgoole Coleman (1795-1844) from Drogheda.

The complex, which I visited during our recent stopover to Singapore, takes its name from the initials of the Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus. It is architecturally distinctiveas a self-contained block in the city centre at Victoria Street, with groups of buildings incorporating diverse styles and different periods of architecture clustered around courtyards. The chapel was once one of the most elaborate places of worship ever built in Singapore.

The buildings include a chapel, schools and accommodation, and they were used for church school activities until November 1983, when the school moved to new premises. The complex was restored in 1996 as a commercial, dining, shopping and entertainment centre with restaurants, shops and a function hall, and providing a venue for musicals, recitals, theatrical performances and weddings.

Caldwell House, now a wedding venue, and the Gothic-style chapel, now known as CHIJMES Hall, are used as a function hall and a wedding venue, and both are designated national monuments.

The first building on the site was Caldwell House, designed by Coleman and built in 1840-1841. The complex was home to a Catholic convent from 1852, and included a convent orphanage house (1855), the convent chapel (1904) and a former hotel complex and girls’ school (1933).

The story of the convent, its chapel and the nuns goes back to Father Jean-Marie Beurel, a French missionary priest in Singapore. After building the earlier version of the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd in 1847, he wanted to open a boys’ school, rum by the Brothers of the Christian Schools.

Beurel asked the Straits Settlements government in 1848 for land for a school, but was refused. He left Singapore on 28 October 1850 for France, where he approached Mother François de Sales de Faudoas, Superior General of the Infant Jesus Sisters, to send some sisters to Singapore to start a girls’ school. He returned to Singapore in 1852 with some brothers from the Brothers of the Christian Schools, and they founded Saint Joseph’s Institution at the former chapel in May 1852.

In July, Beurel once again asked the Straits Settlements Government for land beside the church for a charitable institution for girls, only to be told the Church already had sufficient land. A month later, in August, Beurel bought Caldwell House at the corner of Victoria Street from HC Caldwell for the Sisters of the Holy Infant Jesus.

Mother Mathilde Raclot and three other Sisters of the Holy Infant Jesus travelled overland from France and arrived in Penang in October. Mother Mathilde would become a key figure in the early history of the convent on Victoria Street. The French sisters sailed to Singapore from Penang in February 1854 and moved into Caldwell House on 5 February 1854. Ten days after moving in, they began taking in pupils, establishing the first CHIJ school in Singapore.

Over a period of 20 years, Mother Mathilde turned the convent into a school (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Over a period of 20 years, Mother Mathilde turned the convent into a school. A house at the corner of the Stamford Road and North Bridge Road was bought in 1855 to serve as an orphanage and refuge, known as Home for Abandoned Babies, taking in local girls and women and sometimes boys.

Meanwhile, Beurel had bought nine lots of land between Victoria Street and North Bridge Road, originally belonging to the Raffles Institution, that came to constitute the entire convent complex, and handed them over to Mother Mathilde.

The first convent chapel was built in 1855. But it fell into such a bad condition that it became necessary to build a new one. In the intervening period, Mass was celebrated for the sisters in Caldwell House.

Father Charles Benedict Nain, a priest at the Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, became the architect for building the new convent chapel. At the same time, he was in charge of building the extension of Saint Joseph’s Institution. Work on building the convent chapel began in 1901. The architectural practice of Swan and Maclaren oversaw the project, the new chapel was completed by 1903, and it was consecrated on 11 June 1904.

The early Gothic Revival chapel of the Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus retains many of its original details (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

The early Gothic Revival Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus Chapel retains finely detailed works, including the plasterwork, frescoes and stained glass panels. The chapel was one of the most elaborate places of worship ever built in Singapore. The stained-glass windows were designed by Jules Dobbelaere and were imported from Bruges. A five-storey spire flanked by flying buttresses marks the entrance to the chapel. The 648 capitals on the columns of the chapel and its corridors each bear a unique impression of tropical flora and birds.

Saint Nicholas Girls’ School was established on 16 January 1933, with classes in four bungalows that were once part of the Hotel van Wijk from the 1890s.

Four Japanese bombs hit the complex during the Battle of Singapore on 15 February 1942. During the Japanese occupation of Singapore, about 40 sisters, along with teachers and orphans and teachers were deported to a camp in Bahau, Negeri Sembilan, Malaya. Many of them died there from the harsh conditions. Under Japanese occupation, the school reopened as the Victoria Street Girls’ School. The remaining sisters were forced to wear armbands to show they were not British, and had to learn Japanese to teach a Japanese curriculum to pupils who were forced to learn Japanese songs and watch Japanese films.

Following the Japanese surrender in 1945, the school resumed its former name. The bungalows were demolished in 1950, and new three-storey blocks designed by Swan and Maclaren were built in 1951. The school was separated into primary and secondary sections in 1964.

The site of the former ‘Gate of Hope’ at the corner of Victoria Street and Bras Basah Road … the original gate was destroyed during the Battle of Singapore (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

One of the best-known sites at the convent was a small gate known as ‘The Gate of Hope’, at the corner of Victoria Street and Bras Basah Road. Many babies were abandoned there, especially girls born in the ‘Year of the Tiger,’ because of the superstition that they would bring bad luck to their families. The sisters adopted the babies and gave them a home in the Home for Abandoned Babies.

The original gate and orphanage were destroyed during the Battle of Singapore and were rebuilt after World War II.

The Singapore Government acquired the land from the convent in 1983 and the schools moved to a new site in Toa Payoh. The last service in the chapel was on 3 November 1983; the chapel was then deconsecrated and the convent was closed. Part of the former schools was demolished in 1984 with one of its remaining block was incorporated in part of the SMRT Headquarters Building later built on the site.

The site was put for sale by the Urban Redevelopment Authority in 1990 and Caldwell House and the former Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus Chapel were designated as national monuments later that year.

The complex underwent extensive restoration works in 1991, and much of the original structure of the convent has been preserved, so that Caldwell House, the chapel and the remaining school blocks were spared from demolition. In 1996, after almost 5½ years of conservation and construction work, the former Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus was converted into a plaza with shopping, food and beverage outlets, outdoor spaces and courtyards, cloistered walls and walkways.

CHIJMES received am award from UNESCO in 2002 and is now one of the major buildings in central Singapore. Caldwell House, built for HC Caldwell by Coleman in 1840-1841, and an example of his Neoclassical style, is the oldest building in the enclave.

Meanwhile, the site of Saint Joseph’s Institution, also established by Father Jean-Marie Beurel, was transformed into the Singapore Art Museum.

The site of Saint Joseph’s Institution was transformed into the Singapore Art Museum (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)