The Catholic Shrine of St Augustine of England, Ramsgate, Kent
A new month, though one in which I still have shots from May and June still to post. Possibly some from April too.
So, with the year moving on, I thought I'd do a bit of light churchcrawling, and return to Pugin's church in Ramsgate, aka the Catholic Shrine of St Augustine.
The weather was supposed to be poor, so other than shopping, not much done in the morning as we waited for the rain and clouds to sweep over.
Jools went swimming, while I waited for another delivery of beer.
Sweet beer.
Jools came back at one, and I headed out laden with all my camera gear, and drove to Ramsgate, where I hope to find the church open.
Traffic was heavy, with folks all going to Westwood Cross, but I turned off into Ramsgate, nearly having an accident with a white van man who seemed to think he didn't need to use indicators when changing lanes. I bottled it as he steered into my, missing the car by an inch or so.
Dick.
The church was open, but visitors must have been thin on the ground, as the two volunteers at the entrance engaged me in long conversations about Pugin, the church and the Grange next door.
Pugin was lit by a determination to eliminate what he saw as "pagan" classical design and replace it with Gothic. He was a blur of activity, designing church after church as well as other commissions, and getting married at least twice.
The church has been seen as his perfect ideal of what one should be, he and his family lived in the large Gothic spread, The Grange, next door.
I had the church to myself, it is fabulous, and Pugin himself lays in one of the side chapels. I record details of the decoration, windows and toles, but will return another day to record the windows with the big lens.
I leave just before the church is to close, get in the car and drive, without incident, to Sandwich, then take Knightrider Street out to the Estate for some Marsh Helleborine action.
The observatory was empty, with door locked, and I got no reply when I tried to call the number to see if it was OK to access the meadow with the orchids.
Dozens of spikes out, but many more to come in the forthcoming weeks, but this will be my only visit here this month.
I snapped some of the spikes, and turned to leave. On the way back I saw more butterflies than I have seen so far this year, including my first Comma, which was freshly out of the box.
I walked back to the car, turned it round and drive back home, arriving back just as the ice cream van went by.
Ice cream? I ask Jools.
She says yes.
So, I go out to get two 99s, and we sit on the patio licking and munching the cornets.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“[M]y whole soul is devoted to building this church here” wrote Pugin to the Earl of Shrewsbury.
St Augustine’s Church is the ‘ideal Church’ of Augustus Welby Pugin (1812-1852) who constructed it between 1845-1852 next to his home ‘the Grange’ according to his ‘true principles of Christian architecture’. He described it as ‘my own child’ and it was to be ‘a revival of the old Kentish churches stone & flint’, with a chantry chapel ‘that may be the burial place of my family’.
It stands as symbol of the Catholic revival of the 19th century which Pugin’s own life and conversion in 1835 epitomises. The church is also an integral part of Pugin’s own Gothic revival which inspired the nation at large. It was being constructed at the same time that Pugin was designing the new Houses of Parliament and Big Ben.
Pugin moved to St Augustine’s in 1843 specifically ‘close to the spot where blessed Austin landed’. His building of the church therefore stands as a monument to the arrival of Christianity to Anglo-Saxon England recalling the landing of St Augustine in 597AD. Pugin was keen to show that Catholicism and Gothic were part of the DNA of English identity and the church emphasises and celebrates the English saints in a particular way.
Pugin spared nothing in building this church and he would only use the finest material and workmen. He wrote to his son Edward, ‘I am giving you the best architectural lessons I can; watch the church’. The church provided Mass for local Catholics and visitors before a parish was formed. Ramsgate’s first post-reformation Catholic school was run from the site. At his death he gifted the Church to the Catholic community, for he always intended it to be “a Parochial church” (Pugin’s Letters).
The church’s exterior is stone covered with traditional hardy flint to withstand the weather. Its interior is also lined with Whitby stone forging a link with the great seaside church of St Hilda. There is exquisite decoration with stone and wood carvings throughout, unique statues, stained glass and ornate tiles. Pugin’s team for the church included other well knownassociates George Myers for construction, John Hardman Powell for the metalwork and especially stained glass and Herbert Minton for the tiles. Pugin died in 1852 before completing the project but the work was continued until 1893 and involved Edward Pugin (1834-75) and Peter Paul Pugin (1851-1904) and many of the original associates and their families.
St Augustine’s was consecrated in 1884 and Grade-1 listed only in 1988. From 1856 until 2010 the church was run by the Benedictine monks of St Augustine’s Abbey (which was constructed opposite by Edward Pugin). In 2010 the Benedictine Monks withdrew from the Church and it came under the jurisdiction of the Parish of SS Ethelbert and Gertrude, Ramsgate and Minster. In February 2011 after a sizeable grant from English Heritage, the church’s future was assured. It serves as a functioning local church of the Ramsgate and Minster Catholic parish and since March 1st 2012 as an official shrine of St Augustine for pilgrimage. It remains for all a monument of serious historical importance and site of great architectural, artistic and culture significance for the wider public.
augustinefriends.co.uk/?page_id=15
The Catholic Shrine of St Augustine of England, Ramsgate, Kent
A new month, though one in which I still have shots from May and June still to post. Possibly some from April too.
So, with the year moving on, I thought I'd do a bit of light churchcrawling, and return to Pugin's church in Ramsgate, aka the Catholic Shrine of St Augustine.
The weather was supposed to be poor, so other than shopping, not much done in the morning as we waited for the rain and clouds to sweep over.
Jools went swimming, while I waited for another delivery of beer.
Sweet beer.
Jools came back at one, and I headed out laden with all my camera gear, and drove to Ramsgate, where I hope to find the church open.
Traffic was heavy, with folks all going to Westwood Cross, but I turned off into Ramsgate, nearly having an accident with a white van man who seemed to think he didn't need to use indicators when changing lanes. I bottled it as he steered into my, missing the car by an inch or so.
Dick.
The church was open, but visitors must have been thin on the ground, as the two volunteers at the entrance engaged me in long conversations about Pugin, the church and the Grange next door.
Pugin was lit by a determination to eliminate what he saw as "pagan" classical design and replace it with Gothic. He was a blur of activity, designing church after church as well as other commissions, and getting married at least twice.
The church has been seen as his perfect ideal of what one should be, he and his family lived in the large Gothic spread, The Grange, next door.
I had the church to myself, it is fabulous, and Pugin himself lays in one of the side chapels. I record details of the decoration, windows and toles, but will return another day to record the windows with the big lens.
I leave just before the church is to close, get in the car and drive, without incident, to Sandwich, then take Knightrider Street out to the Estate for some Marsh Helleborine action.
The observatory was empty, with door locked, and I got no reply when I tried to call the number to see if it was OK to access the meadow with the orchids.
Dozens of spikes out, but many more to come in the forthcoming weeks, but this will be my only visit here this month.
I snapped some of the spikes, and turned to leave. On the way back I saw more butterflies than I have seen so far this year, including my first Comma, which was freshly out of the box.
I walked back to the car, turned it round and drive back home, arriving back just as the ice cream van went by.
Ice cream? I ask Jools.
She says yes.
So, I go out to get two 99s, and we sit on the patio licking and munching the cornets.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“[M]y whole soul is devoted to building this church here” wrote Pugin to the Earl of Shrewsbury.
St Augustine’s Church is the ‘ideal Church’ of Augustus Welby Pugin (1812-1852) who constructed it between 1845-1852 next to his home ‘the Grange’ according to his ‘true principles of Christian architecture’. He described it as ‘my own child’ and it was to be ‘a revival of the old Kentish churches stone & flint’, with a chantry chapel ‘that may be the burial place of my family’.
It stands as symbol of the Catholic revival of the 19th century which Pugin’s own life and conversion in 1835 epitomises. The church is also an integral part of Pugin’s own Gothic revival which inspired the nation at large. It was being constructed at the same time that Pugin was designing the new Houses of Parliament and Big Ben.
Pugin moved to St Augustine’s in 1843 specifically ‘close to the spot where blessed Austin landed’. His building of the church therefore stands as a monument to the arrival of Christianity to Anglo-Saxon England recalling the landing of St Augustine in 597AD. Pugin was keen to show that Catholicism and Gothic were part of the DNA of English identity and the church emphasises and celebrates the English saints in a particular way.
Pugin spared nothing in building this church and he would only use the finest material and workmen. He wrote to his son Edward, ‘I am giving you the best architectural lessons I can; watch the church’. The church provided Mass for local Catholics and visitors before a parish was formed. Ramsgate’s first post-reformation Catholic school was run from the site. At his death he gifted the Church to the Catholic community, for he always intended it to be “a Parochial church” (Pugin’s Letters).
The church’s exterior is stone covered with traditional hardy flint to withstand the weather. Its interior is also lined with Whitby stone forging a link with the great seaside church of St Hilda. There is exquisite decoration with stone and wood carvings throughout, unique statues, stained glass and ornate tiles. Pugin’s team for the church included other well knownassociates George Myers for construction, John Hardman Powell for the metalwork and especially stained glass and Herbert Minton for the tiles. Pugin died in 1852 before completing the project but the work was continued until 1893 and involved Edward Pugin (1834-75) and Peter Paul Pugin (1851-1904) and many of the original associates and their families.
St Augustine’s was consecrated in 1884 and Grade-1 listed only in 1988. From 1856 until 2010 the church was run by the Benedictine monks of St Augustine’s Abbey (which was constructed opposite by Edward Pugin). In 2010 the Benedictine Monks withdrew from the Church and it came under the jurisdiction of the Parish of SS Ethelbert and Gertrude, Ramsgate and Minster. In February 2011 after a sizeable grant from English Heritage, the church’s future was assured. It serves as a functioning local church of the Ramsgate and Minster Catholic parish and since March 1st 2012 as an official shrine of St Augustine for pilgrimage. It remains for all a monument of serious historical importance and site of great architectural, artistic and culture significance for the wider public.
augustinefriends.co.uk/?page_id=15