Praxiteles
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All Saints, Barton Irwell
The Chancel seen from the nave.
The High Altar
The panels of the reredos depict, left side, the Nativity of Our Lord and the Adoration of the Magi with the carrying of the Cross and the Cruucifixion on the right side.
All Saints Barton on Irwell.
South side and west door with the arms of the de Trafford family of Trafford Park (who built the church) at either side.
Some shots of E.W. Pugin’s All Saints at Barton Irwell near Manchester.
The ensemble here of church and detached presbytery is quite similar to the church of the Sacred Heart built by him and G.C.Ashlin at Monkstown, Co. Cork.
Has anybody seen the efforts of the OPW on the Skellig Michael and particularly their apparent efforts to rebuild the monastic site there? I wonder whether this might not be another example of the kind of thing that we saw in relation to their efforts to rebuild Cormac’s Chapel.
@johnglas wrote:
It’s difficult to understand why there is not a move to reinstate roodscreen and altars; they already have a ‘temporary’ (movable) nave altar and if the two discarded altars are as unique as suggested, then this reinforces the case. With the current vogue for the ‘older use’ of Mass, this would all make perfect sense. If Benedict’s re-reform of the mass takes root, you will suddenly find lots of apologists for destruction becoming advocates of ‘restoration’. Watch this space.
They are a spineless lot and fickle to the end.
@ake wrote:
I don’t know if this was posted before so I’ll just post it again if it was;
Pugin reredos restored at Leeds Cathedral
http://thenewliturgicalmovement.blogspot.com/2008/01/pugin-reredos-restored-at-leeds.html
And some fantastic pics of Leeds C. here
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paullew/sets/72157603655443127/
Have any similar Pugin designed reredos survived in Ireland?
I fear not!
Some examples of the Minton tiles from the floor of All Saints at Barton on Irwell (by E W Pugin), near Manchester
The Holy name of Jesus, Manchester
The screens on the north wall behind which are set the confessionals.
The Holy Name of Jesus, Manchester.
The screen before the side chapels on the South side.
The dividing walls were removed and the individual chapels demolished to create a large “sacred” space. However, the dividing walls waere essential to the structural integrity of the south side and their removal occasioned serious structural pproblems that resulted in the reinsertiuon of the dividing walls. To-date, the side chapels are being reinstalled as suitable material salvaged from other churches and chapels becomes available.
The Holy Name of Jesus, Manchester.
Here we have the High Altar. Miraculoausly, this survived a terrible outburst of iconoclasm which saw the final Jesuit comminity at the Holy Name of Jesus send their extensive collection of relics to the Manchester Crematorium!!
Some shots of the Holy name of Jesus in Manchester.
This is Hansom’s exercise in the neo Gothic for the Manchester Jesuits.
This is a view of the sacristy which has a complete set of plans and drawings on display. Two of them are above the evsting bench.
WE are all well aware of the dangers of “restoration” from the debacle of what happened at Cobh Cathedral and we can certainly justify maximum vigilance when it comes to further proposals for this building.
However, such “restoration” disasters are not unusual. Another example must surely be E. W. Pugin’s All Saints at Barton upon Irwill. The church was built by him between 1865 and 1868 at a cost of £25,000 supplied by the descndants of the local recusant lords or the manor of Trafford, the de Trafford family. The very best of craftsmanship and material went into the building and decoration of the church. In some respects, this was E. W. Pugin’s chance to rival his father’s church at Cheadle, done for the Marquis of Shrewsbury.
Bewteen 1985 and 1991 extensive “restoration” was undertaken at enormous expense with monies supplied by private and public benefactors. The initial results seemed (from the photographs) very promising and those from the re-opening in 1991 suggest that the church once again looked as it had in 1868.
However, on entering the church today, it is almost derelict. Large tracts of it have been infected by dry rot – most notoriously the gilt decorated ceiling of the sanctuary which appears to be on the verge of collapse. The painted and frescoed decoration of the nave and side aisles seem to have simply vanished. The famous fresco of the adoration of the lamb on the Spouth wall of the chancel which contains a portrait of E. W. Pugin is in the most precarious state and in urgent need of professional attention if it is to be saved from vanishing off the wall. A very harsh coloured glass was installed in the west rose at the time of the 1985/1991 retoration. The original glass was removed during the war and never replaced. We are told that it went AWAL. How, may we ask, can this have happened?
It is interesting that something similar appears to be happening in Cobh CAthedral. After a much publicised and highly expensive restoration, the building is in a shambles and possibly in a worse structural condition than before the so called restoration of the 1990s began. Now, another “reastoration” is proposed and contracts awareded to “conservationists” who, as far as a major ecclesiastical building of international significance is concerned, are untried. We are told that the easily impressionable Cobh Town Council are, undersatbdably, “impressed” – but then they could be relied on to build a hay shed. What, we might ask, is going to happen if the next “restoration” in Cobh is going to leave the building even more delapidated than it presently is?
