Catholic Cathedral Church of St Chad, Aston, Birmingham

Summary

A Cathedral Church built 1839-1841 from designs by A W Pugin, with C19 and C20 alterations and additions by E W Pugin and Sebastien Pugin Powell, and fittings by John Hardman and Co.

Description

A Cathedral Church built 1839-1841 from designs by A W Pugin, with C19 and C20 alterations and additions by E W Pugin and Sebastien Pugin Powell, and fittings by John Hardman and Co.

PLAN: the cathedral is orientated on a northwest-southeast axis. The plan consists of an aisled nave with shallow transepts and a short apsidal chancel, flanked by a Lady Chapel and sacristies, and a crypt below.

MATERIALS: the church is built of brick laid in Flemish bond, with Bath stone dressings and slate roofs.

EXTERIOR: the south-east front is symmetrical, with two towers topped with broach spires and paired lancet windows. The south tower has a ring of five bells all recast by Taylors of Loughborough in 1940. The central main entrance has an arched doorway divided by a stone pier. The arch-head contains the figures of the Virgin and Child and censing angels beneath a carved tympanum and is flanked by two statues of saints. Above is a an arched, six-light window with circular, foiled tracery. In the gable above is a triangular window with trefoils. The towers are bordered with pier buttresses and feature paired windows below circular tracery, with integral niches containing statues of English saints. The apsidal St Edward’s chapel projects south-west and is surrounded by stone steps. It features carved heraldry within its south-west wall. To the west elevation is the entrance to the crypt which features Tudor arched doorways and leaded windows within stone surrounds and a carved figure to the south corner. The former baptistery features a two-light arched window while the transept to the north has a tall, six-light window, both with foiled tracery. The north-west elevation takes advantage of the sloping site, with a three-sided apse featuring tall, two-light windows, a Lady Chapel to the west and sacristies to the east, all set above the ground level crypt. The east elevation of the cathedral features slender, two-light windows with foiled tracery and pier buttresses. Adjoining the east side of the building is the Archbishop’s House, cathedral bookshop and diocese offices which are not part of this assessment.

INTERIOR: between the nave and aisles is an arcade of five bays, with tall, slender clustered shafts; a sixth, taller and broader bay marks the crossing. The steeply pitched roof covers both the nave and aisles and is supported on queen post trusses with curved braces which rise from capitals. The chancel roof has moulded rafters supported by curved brackets and a ridge purlin. The ceiling between the slender purlins and rafters is painted with colourful heraldic motifs. The aisle and chancel windows are all of two lights. The stained glass is largely by the Hardman firm, ranging in date from 1848 to 1928.

The chancel is framed with gold painted clustered shafts with foliage capitals. Within the chancel, A W Pugin’s high altar of 1841 has riddel posts and an elaborately carved gable with a cusped arch enclosing the relic chest of St Chad, with the crowning spire added in 1933 by Gerald Hardman. Below this is a tabernacle of 1878 by J. H. Powell. The oak choir stalls and Pugin’s oak archbishop’s throne incorporate late medieval carved woodwork with carved figures and linenfold panelling. The C19-style encaustic tile floors of the sanctuary were added around 1992. The stone forward altar, pierced with cusped openings, is also of this date. The stained glass was made by William Warrington to Pugin’s designs.

The Lady Chapel to the left of the chancel features an altar by Pugin of 1841, with carvings of the Presentation in the Temple, Nativity and Adoration of the Magi, and a contemporary reredos carved with the Virgin and Child flanked by the Annunciation and Visitation. The chapel features a screen and parclose screen by Pugin, and a C15 statue of the Virgin and Child given by Pugin. The fibreglass statue of St Joseph is by Michael Clarke, 1969.

In the west transept is Pugin’s canopied Bath stone monument to Bishop Walsh, made by Myers, and a ledger brass to John Bernard Hardman (1843-1903). The stained glass in the former baptistery was designed by Pugin and made by William Wailes. The St Edward’s chapel at the south-west corner contains an altar of 1933 by Gerald Hardman.

Within the nave is a hexagonal oak pulpit against the west crossing pier, incorporating statuettes of the Doctors of the Church. It was made by Pugin from one of around 1520, probably obtained from St Gertrude’s Abbey, Leuven and given by the Earl of Shrewsbury in 1841. Pugin’s octagonal font is in the west aisle, carved with the symbols of the evangelists. On one of the pillars of the east arcade is a C19 wooden statue of St Chad, holding a model of Lichfield Cathedral. In the east aisle is a war memorial of 1921 by Gerald Hardman, with a relief of the Deposition and a memorial tablet to Archbishop Williams (1877-1946) by G B Cox. Along both aisles, the Stations of the Cross are by Albrecht Franz Lieven de Vriendt of Antwerp, 1875. The pews, of Japanese oak, date from 1940 and were designed by G B Cox. At the south end of the nave, the organ has a painted Gothic case by David Graebe.

A staircase from the west aisle leads down to the crypt, which includes a chapel and the Hardman Chantry, the latter with painted decoration of 1877, restored around 1998. Monuments in the crypt include that to Archbishop Ullathorne, by Peter Paul Pugin, 1890, with a reclining effigy in episcopal vestments under a four-centred canopy.

History

The cathedral church of the Archdiocese of Birmingham was commissioned in the 1830s by Bishop Walsh, Vicar Apostolic of the Western District. It followed the Catholic Emancipation Act of 1829, which removed most of the remaining barriers to Catholic worship in England, and would be the first Catholic cathedral to be built in the country since the Reformation. It was proposed as a larger and more worthy replacement of an earlier church by William Hollins which had ceased to meet the needs and aspirations of the growing Catholic population of the city. The cathedral was to be dedicated to St Chad whose relics would be enshrined within the church.

Plans for the new church were initially prepared by Birmingham architect, Thomas Rickman, but ultimately it was A W N Pugin who was chosen to prepare a scheme for Bishop Walsh. Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin (1812-1852) was an English architect, designer, artist and critic known for his influential Gothic Revival style of architecture. St Chad’s was his first cathedral. He would go on to design the interior of the Palace of Westminster in London, and its iconic clock tower, which houses Big Ben. He was the father of Edward Welby Pugin and Peter Paul Pugin, who continued his architectural firm as Pugin & Pugin.

The cathedral church was built from red brick in a German Gothic style between 1839 and 1841 and was an early collaboration between Pugin and his builder, George Myers. The design took advantage of the sloping site, with a crypt below the east end, originally planned as a school. The building was designed to have a central spire at the crossing, though this was never built. The church’s fittings and furnishings were designed or procured by Pugin or donated by benefactors. The Sixteenth Earl of Shrewsbury donated the stalls, and a brass lectern, which was later sold by the cathedral. John Hardman and son contributed towards the cost of the rood screen and high altar. Bishop Walsh contributed £14,000 towards the total cost of just under £20,000. The church was consecrated by Bishop Walsh on 21 June 1841. Pugin’s second wife, Louisa was laid to rest in the crypt in 1844, as was Bishop Walsh in 1849 and four generations of the Hardman family.

With the restoration of the Catholic hierarchy by Pope Pius IX in 1850, St Chad’s became the cathedral church of the new Diocese of Birmingham, and Dr William Ullathorne was enthroned as the first bishop on 27 October 1850. The Chapter of Canons was established in 1852, Mgr Henry Weedall being the first Provost. Pugin’s short sanctuary was insufficient for the building’s new status and functions, and in 1854 was extended under the crossing by Pugin’s son, Edward Welby Pugin, bringing forward Pugin’s rood screen. E W Pugin also oversaw the addition of the southwest spire in 1856, in memory of Canon John Moore. The St Edward’s chapel was added in 1933, from designs by Sebastian Pugin Powell (A W Pugin’s grandson) as a memorial to Archbishop Ilsley. In 1941, on the occasion of its centenary, St Chad’s was made a minor basilica by Pope Pius XII.

From 1964 a major programme of repair, relighting and reheating was instigated by Archbishop Dwyer. The sanctuary was rearranged and extended to the chancel crossing. The pulpit was relocated and lost its tester. The rood screen was removed and Pugin’s tiled floors were replaced with marble. Much of Pugin’s scheme of decoration was also overpainted. Further reordering and redecoration was carried out from 1992 for Archbishop Maurice Couve de Murville including the addition of an organ by J. W. Walker & Sons and encaustic floor tiles by H and R Johnson, replacing the 1960s marble. The corpus from the rood was rehung above the alter while the screen itself was removed to the Anglican church of Holy Trinity, Reading.

Reasons for Listing

St Chad’s Catholic Cathedral is listed at Grade II* for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* as an early work and first Cathedral of AWN Pugin, a prominent and highly influential architect, the building is a landmark in Pugin’s oeuvre, instrumental in the development of his ideas and significant in the development of Gothic revival architecture in England;
* as an elegantly proportioned, and skilfully composed mid-C19 cathedral, which incorporates thoughtful detailing and high-quality craftsmanship, including high-quality alterations and additions by E W Pugin and Sebastien Pugin Powell;
* for the remarkable quality of the ornate interior, incorporating stained glass, and metalwork by Hardman and Co and intricately crafted liturgical fixtures and fittings procured by Pugin and his patrons.

Historic interest:

* as the first Catholic cathedral to be built in England since the Reformation, its construction marked the removal of the remaining restrictions to Catholic worship, following the Catholic Emancipation Act of 1829, which had been imposed to varying degrees since the C16.

External Links

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