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From the
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St Augustine's Church
Sanctuary
Fenwick Lawson
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St Augustine's Church
(Taken from ‘The Darlington Catholics’ by G Wild) ……………..land for the building of the church was bought in
June 1825. On the 17th of that month a plot of land which was part
of Green Tree Field, 72ft by 45ft, was purchased by Thomas Penswick, John
Yates and William Hogarth. The price was £55, and the joint vendors were
Harry Vane, Earl of Darlington and Henry, Viscount Barnard. This plot was the
first in a series of purchases which were clearly deliberate and part of a
strategy designed to take over the whole of the corner of what is now
Coniscliffe Road and Larchfield Street. ……………..the original plans and subscription list are
missing, the church building must have started early in 1826. The building,
designed by Ignatius Bonomi, measured 70ft by 40 ft. It was built of
limestone roofed with Westmoreland slates. Its design is described in most
works of reference as ‘debased Gothic’. The building work progressed rapidly
and by April 1827 William Hogarth wrote to Bishop Smith to tell him that he
had decided to have his new chapel named ‘in the style and title of St
Augustine’s and invited the bishop to perform the opening ceremony on 29 May
1827. The opening was heralded by a notice in the Catholic Press where it was
mentioned that the dedication sermon would be preached by the Rev. Richard
Gillow, professor of Elocution at Ushaw College, a young gentleman ‘of great
attainments’. The event was carried off in great solemnity in front of a
congregation of citizens of the town. A collection raised over £31 which went
towards the building fund. Reference to the 1851 Ordnance Survey of
Darlington shows that chapel as being capable of having 450 seats of which
150 were free. In the October the chapel was registered at the Durham Quarter
Sessions as a place of worship for Catholics. A major landmark in the history
of Darlington’s Catholics had been reached. (‘The Darlington
Catholics’ by Mr G Wild and published at Darlington’s Carmel Convent was
written to commemorate the bicentenary of St Augustine’s Parish, Darlington,
July 1983) Sanctuary
A
BEAUTIFUL SANCTUARY - 1827 The reredos (ornamental altar screen) in St Augustine's is
said to be one of the finest examples of its kind in any Catholic church in
England. This claim is no idle
boast. Many parishioners automatically
accept our sanctuary as being very attractive without giving much attention
to detail. A closer inspection
reveals a high standard of craftsmanship which, while being a silent tribute
to the honour and glory of God, does not intrude on the mental image of the
worshipper. Indeed, the whole design,
including the four pictorial scenes, blends perfectly. It was during Canon Rooney’s reign that the reredos was
installed in 1899. Made by Messrs.
Robsons, of Newcastle, and carved in Austrian oak, it took two years to
complete. The cost then was around
£800, but in 1957 (when it was restored) it was valued at £4,000 and insured
for that amount. Today its value is
incapable of estimation, and being irreplaceable, the insurance companies
refuse to accept any responsibility for loss or damage. The screen is 25 feet in height. The central design is a throne in delicate tracery work,
surmounted by a canopy and a spire which itself is crowned by the emblematic
pelican. On each side of the throne
there are panels containing paints in the decorative and architectural style
of the medieval school of sacred art. The upper panel on the left side depicts Pope Gregory the
First sending St Augustine and his companions to preach the Faith in
England. Below is an impression of
Our Lady enthroned with the Infant Jesus and surrounded by English saints and
martyrs (we note here that as a record of the devotion shown in Darlington to
Our Lady in the days of long ago, the ancient municipal shield bore upon it
the emblem of the Blessed Virgin Mary and her Divine Child). The top right panel shows Our Lord after the Resurrection,
surrounded by the Apostles. The lower
right panel requires no description, as it is obviously the Last Supper
Scene. Casting an eye to the left of the screen, we behold a
life-size carving of St Augustine, our patron. To the right is a matching statue of a great Northern saint, St
Cuthbert, traditionally holding the head of his friend St Oswald. On each side of the centre canopy are columns of smaller
carvings of saints, some not easy to identify. To the left is St Teresa of Avilla, the lower ones being
Blessed Thomas Percy, Blessed Richard Thirkell, and Blessed George Swallowell
(all Northern martyrs). At the head
of the right pillar is St Clare, then St Thomas of Canterbury, St Vincent de
Paul an St Patrick. The marble altar also blends with the carvings, thus
completing a rich sanctuary yet one that does not distract the
worshipper. The whole scene is worthy
of a house of God which holds the proud status of Mother Church of Catholic
Darlington and from which has stemmed the other town churches of St William,
St Thomas, Holy Family, St Anne and St Teresa. Two small altars, which grace the front of the sanctuary,
continue the theme of the carved reredos.
That on the left, dedicated to Our Lady, contains a wooden
tabernacle. The frontispiece painting
of the Annunciation. To the right, St
Joseph’s altar has illustrations of the Child Jesus with Our Lady and St
Joseph in the carpenter’s shop at Nazareth.
The lower painting is of the deathbed of St Joseph (patron of the
dying) in the presence of Our Lord and Our Lady. The various stained-glass windows were redesigned so as to
admit maximum light into the church.
They look particularly beautiful when the sun streams through
them. The glass nearest the sacristy
door bears the maker’s name: Barnett, Newcastle. One of the windows is little seen by the congregation, yet it
is perhaps the gem of all – from the extreme left of the altar rail we can glimpse
this colourful glass situated at the right hand of the altar. It is dedicated to several people,
including Father Henry Coll, with the
date 1868. As we climb the stairs to the gallery, we pass two windows
asking prayers for the English and the Irish. The wording of the first is “Set. Augustine ora pro Anglis”,
the next being “sct. Patricie ora pro Hibernis.” Opposite St Patrick’s window we observe the Witham coat-of arms-,
dated 1826, and also an ancient holy water stoup. Fenwick Lawson
Re-Ordering of the Sanctuary The invitation to consider the renewing of the principal
elements for the celebration of the liturgy in the re-ordering of the
sanctuary paradoxically filled me with excitement and trepidation. In the journey I have made as a sculptor I
have learned that in the making of a possible work of art there can be no
guarantees of success. This task was
all the more onerous because of the magnificence of the existing environment;
the finely crafted reredos catching and holding the eye. Against this background consider the mind of the Church
expressed in the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy of the Second Vatican
Council. The altar, ambo and
celebrant’s chair constitute the primary elements for the celebration of
Mass. The altar is the primary image,
the reason for being of the building, the natural focus of the assembly. It is the sign of Christ himself. With these criteria in
mind and in order to engage the eye with primacy of place and taking the
theme ‘I am the vine’ for the altar I decided to enrich the ‘tree of life’
with a carved linear interpretation of the vine influenced by Celtic scroll
work and interlacing thereby referencing the early church of
Northumbria. This is further heightened
by the image of a bird also in linear form taking a grape from the vine – a
metaphor used by Saxon carvers for communion; wine, the blood of Christ. In response to a point made by a parishioner at a
preliminary meeting I have paid homage to the Victorian reredos by including
in the visual structure a reference to the interlaced arches at ceiling
level. The visual dynamic of the polished metal plates is meant
to further enrich, enhance and catch the eye. They also stand as a metaphor for the Trinity:- stainless steel
– white light – Christ; brass – gold light – God the Father; copper – warm
light – reflecting in both – the Holy Spirit. Architecturally they also stabilize the image of altar as table
which from the beginning was the expressed wish of the Architect for the
re-ordering. Complementary to the
altar is the ambo. Again reflect on
the mind of the Church. ‘The design and material of the ambo should be in keeping
with the altar; it should be a substantial and permanent element in the
liturgical setting and its form should suggest a place from which the word is
proclaimed and expounded in the homily.’ This ambo is carved from the solid oak tree; the same tree
as the altar. The lip on the front is
designed to afford the possibility of displaying ‘the word’; the removal of
the book then reveals the sign of the Holy Spirit. The monograms of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are carved in the
quarters formed by a cross embellished with the vine scroll and the whole
further enriched by the vine scroll on a diagonal line leading the eye to and
thereby complementing the altar. The celebrant’s chair takes the same journey back to the
early Church in its reference to St. Wilfrid’s chair, sometimes known as
Acca’s chair of the Frith stool which can be seen in Hexham Abbey. Hopefully, I have tried to endow this
chair with the same dignity and authority.
Again it is carved from the same tree as the altar and ambo. The font is a continuation of the ‘tree of life’ opening
out to receive, forming the cross, the sign of Christ – the stainless steel
bowl representing the light of Christ as seen in the altar. In my search for ways of expressing the significance and
inner meanings of these principal elements although it has been a personal
journey in faith I sincerely hope that acting on behalf of the community of
St Augustine's I have expressed a shared perception. |