|
Home >
Newsletter > Full Archive > Columns 27 Columns NUMBER 27 • Autumn 2006
All stops out for the organ restoration Just as Christ Church is the largest and grandest of the six churches built by Nicholas Hawksmoor, the organ installed in 1735 was the largest organ in England for a hundred years. Its builder, Richard Bridge, is considered to be one of the most significant builders of the time in Europe and the organ at Christ Church is probably his finest. The Bridge organ is one of the few large English organs to survive from the age of Handel and it is of European significance. Its restoration will play an important role in the understanding of the cultural heritage of eighteenth century England as well contributing to the broader cultural, liturgical and social life of Spitalfields. Contemporary vestry accounts remark ‘By the most competent judges the tone is pronounced to be unexcelled, combining sweetness and great dignity, breadth and power’. It was also notable in its size, range and appearance. The original organ had over two thousand pipes and three manuals; its range reached down to contra G, five notes lower even than found on organs built today. Its case is of solid walnut and the exuberantly carved double serpentine front is one of only eight ever made to that pattern and by far the largest. The Friends intend to restore the organ to Bridge’s original scheme of 1735 with the addition of a small pedal organ to increase musical flexibility and enhance its usefulness. Sufficient evidence of Bridge’s original organ survives to enable it to be reconstructed with confidence. To raise the funds necessary to do the work is a big challenge. However, supporters will be glad to hear that the fund for the restoration has recently received some significant donations including a very generous bequest by Eric Elstob, former chairman of the Friends. We would like to thank all those Supporters who have given so generously. The Friends are seeking grants to fund the works and have launched an appeal for £250,000 to match them. As we saw from the restoration of Christ Church itself, every donation, large or small, counted and it was thanks to our two thousand plus supporters that we were able to achieve such a remarkable success. If you think you are able to help us again, please consider making a donation now. Thank you.
More glory for Christ Church Since the last edition of Columns (No 26) the restoration at Christ Church has been recognised with three further awards. In March 2006 Christ Church Spitalfields received a Civic Trust award. These awards are given to projects in the United Kingdom that make an outstanding contribution to the quality and appearance of the environment. They recognise ‘exemplary, high quality schemes’. The judges wrote: This project is a remarkable story of perseverance, meticulous research, and uncompromising rigour in restoring this church to a manner that Hawksmoor would have recognised instantly. Great care has been taken in the re-use and renewal of materials, energy conservation, and future maintenance costs … In addition to religious use, the building is also let for appropriate functions to secure funding for the church’s future. Having survived threats of demolition, the project should be a source of great pride to all those who laboured unwavering over the years to see it reinstated as a place of worship and community use. Christ Church has also been awarded two prestigious awards by the RIBA: these awards are respected worldwide for their recognition of the highest architectural standards. Christ Church was given a RIBA restoration award at the ceremony in July and six weeks later received a Conservation Award and was short listed for the 2006 Crown Estate Conservation Award which will be made later in the autumn at the Stirling Prize dinner. Christ Church Spitalfields awards for the restoration
Simon Sainsbury The Friends are very sad to acknowledge the recent death of Simon Sainsbury in September aged 76. Simon had taken a close personal interest in supporting the restoration of Christ Church for many years. He was a Patron of the Friends and he will be sorely missed. New Publications The Friends have recently published two new postcards:
Cards are 40p each. Minimum postal order is £4.00. These and other publications & cards produced by the Friends are available on Tuesdays and Sundays in Christ Church or by downloading an order form. Christmas Cards The Friends have three designs available this year including a new image showing the decorated plaster ceilings of the nave & aisles at Christ Church. Visit our publications section for more details. All proceeds go towards the work of the Friends. Thank you for your support. Thank you The Friends are grateful for the generosity of the many individuals and organisations who support the Restoration Appeal. We would like to thank law firm Ashurst for generously providing an office; for printing this issue of Columns and other printed material. We value donations large and small. Thank you. We would also like to take this opportunity to thank all those who prefer to remain anonymous and those who give to the restoration by standing order, thereby saving on administrative costs. We would like to thank the following for their recent donations:
*For the Richard Bridge Organ Appeal Website News The Monument section of the Friends’ website has been updated. A complete catalogue of all the monuments in the church can be searched by name. There is a new photograph of each monument together with a transcription of its text. As you will see if you visit this section, some of the monuments have texts written in Hebrew which we have been unable to translate. We would welcome help with the transcription. Please contact the Friends’ office. Along with the cleaning of the large Ladbroke and Peck monuments at the east end of the church, a programme of works to clean all the wall monuments, mostly fixed to the walls on the west stairs, has been devised. It is hoped that this work will be carried out early in 2007. The work is of a specialist nature and each of the thirty-one monuments will cost around £900 to do. This is part of the Heritage Lottery Fund grant aided works. The matching funds needed for each monument is £225. If you would like to make a donation to help with these works, please visit our donation section. The Friends would like to thank all those who have so far contributed to this appeal. Book of the Floor Appeal The Friends have recently received the appeal book which contains dedications from all those who contributed to the new stone floor at Christ Church. This book has been beautifully designed and lettered by Nancy Winters, Fellow of the Society of Scribes & Illuminators. The book is currently kept in the Church Office and can be viewed there by appointment. Please bear in mind that the office is only staffed part time, so please make arrangements well in advance by telephoning 020 7247 7202. Those subscribers who are unable to make a visit will shortly be able to view illustrations of all the book’s pages on this website.
Dates for your diary The Friends are planning their next tour of the six London churches designed by Hawksmoor. If you would be interested in receiving early information about it please contact the Friends’ office. Gabrieli Consort and Players are resident at Christ Church Spitalfields.
both at 7.30pm. For further details call the Barbican box office: 0845 120 7543 or visit www.gabrieli.com Spitalfields Festival
The bells! The bells! Alan Regin, steeplekeeper at Christ Church Spitalfields for the past eighteen years The bells at Christ Church have been associated with the Society of Royal Cumberland Youths (‘The Cumberlands’), who were founded in 1747, for most of the last 259 years: it was indeed members of that Society who installed the current ring in 1969–70. The eight bells, formerly at St Stephen’s Clapham Park, now demolished, were cast in 1919 at the foundry of Gillett & Johnston in Croydon. The tenor, the heaviest bell, weighs just over 17cwt (about 865kg). They are ‘hung’ in an iron and steel frame and are rung by rope and wheel, one ringer per bell. Each bell is hung to allow it to swing through slightly more than 360 degrees and then return in the opposite direction and ring once on each rotation. As steeplekeeper I act as the liaison between the Society and the Church in matters concerning the bells. Our aim is to ring the bells for services at least once a month and at other times when requested by the Rector, for example for special services or weddings. The bells are also used by the Cumberlands for practice, and also by them and others on occasions such as visitors on outings from across the UK or further afield, and other groups of ringers wanting to come and ring peals and quarter peals. The bells are well regarded by ringers for their tone and ‘go’: how they sound and how easily they ring. We have an effective ‘sound control’ system in the tower which prevents much of the sound being heard outside. This is opened for service ringing, making the bells much louder outside, but while it is closed at other times our close neighbours don’t always appreciate our efforts! When we ring we most often ring ‘methods’: effectively pieces of music for ringers. Because of the mechanics of a bell a method has to be a constantly flowing thing; we are unable, for instance, to ring one bell three times in sucession. We start by ringing ‘rounds’, sounding each bell in order from the lightest (with the highest note) to the heaviest (with the deepest note), and each time we ring this is one ‘change’. When we start the method the bells start moving position, moving one place either way or staying in the same place. The aim here is to keep the same rhythm: we try not to leave gaps or crash the bells on one another, not as easy as it sounds. 12345678 This method, called ‘Plain Hunt on 8’, has sixteen different changes with the bells starting and finishing in rounds. Only eight changes are shown above, but readers could try, using the table, to complete the full sixteen changes, arriving back with the bells in the order 12345678. The sixteen changes would only take about 35 seconds to ring, but a ‘peal’ of 5,000 or more different changes would take about three hours. The peal board commemorates the record peal at Christ Church of London Surprise Major: 17,280 changes that took 11 hours and 35 minutes of non stop ringing by the same eight people! If you would like to support the restoration please go to the support us page for more details. |
