In 1833 factory inspectors stopped slavery in factories. They also set up Universities for non church of England boys, and as you can imagine this made some people upset. In 1829, there was catholic emancipation, this meant that not as many people were gong to church as they used to. This was the time when John Keble began to lose faith in were the people of England were going.
A.W.N. Pugin was part of the Gothic revival. He designed many things, such as the Houses of Parliament, which as you can see, have a very gothic exterior. Pugin had a very strong basic belief, he much preferred it when everyone was a catholic and there was nothing different, this period was about five hundred years ago. He believed England was much better off before the reformation, this was when Henry viii broke up with the Church of England.
The first picture is full of industrial chimneys, and workhouses etc, this is what he hated the most, when people die in this they would be dissected. Unemployed people were sent to work houses here, all of this he despised
In the second it shows spires of churches pointing high in the
sky, this symbolises worship of God, this was around 1440 when England was
a good place to live. The same city, in 1840, there is industrial buildings and
Chimneys instead of spires, there was a small chapel but it was fake or bogus
So he hated it. There is an old medieval church with pointy windows and is
made of stone, so he likes or respects it. John Keble was a priest and a lecturer
at oxford in 1830. He set up the Oxford movement; this was a group of Church
of England priests who protested at the government.
Hursley church shows very well Keble’s ideas about Christian architecture and church building. A lot of his ideas are put into this church, such as, the altar for the priest to look the most important person in the church, it is almost used as a stage for the priest, and so all the eyes are focused on him.
Keble built Hursley like most other important churches, by this I mean that, for instance, it is focused on the east, I mean that the altar, grand stained glass windows, chancel and pulpit are here. Around the sides of the church is has carved pictures of the saints, and in the stained glass windows, it tells the story of the bible, and how Jesus died on the cross.
The designer who designed Hursley’s décor was AWN Pugin, so this church Is very much gothic driven in its design, as were most churches in this period. Around the church, there is a classical building, this is the mausoleum, the mausoleum is where dead bodies are stored in graves like pizza ovens lined with lead. This building does not reflect Keble’s ideas in Christian church building.
The interior is heavily decorated with Christian architecture; this is typical of Keble’s ideas. The ceiling of the church is very dark and mysterious, with angels carved in wood looking down on the nave. The ceiling Is supported by big, grand beams, in which, were they are joined at the wall have a “boss”, which is a piece of decorated structural material. The interior of Hursley church isn’t heavily decorated, accept for certain key places, the reason why it isn’t heavily decorated, is because Keble didn’t have enough money for it all. Also Keble had to cover up the brick with stone to make it look how he wanted it, he could only cover it up because he didn’t have enough money again.
At Hursley Christ is the key image to look at. The windows at Hursley are typical of what the windows in that period would have looked like, they are Semi-circular, and are decorated very well. They are stained glass and all of the windows round the side of the church tell the story of Christ dying on the cross. The pillars in the church are also typical of that period; they have a base, capitol and Christian carvings just before the top.
A main reason for Keble building this church was to boost Christianity and to get people back to church, and he also thought properly designed churches would bring people back to church. Pugin used Decorated style; he believed this was the purest form of Christian architecture. Keble cut everything classical from the church. Keble believed the priest was very important, therefore should be raised above the crowd and to be dressed in grand robes. Communion is a main event at this church every Sunday, In which the priest performs a miracle. A font is also here, this is used for baptisms.
So this church shows Keble’s ideas about Christianity and church buildings very well.
Hursley is and is not a gothic revival church. So how typical was Gothic Revival? Gothic revival was becoming interesting in 1840. William Beckford was very rich from this architecture. Gothic Revival was around before Pugin, the Hospital and Guildhall in Winchester are Gothic revival.
So, were there any other styles used for new Victorian churches and new buildings? The answer is yes. Venetian gothic, like the guildhall, Byzantine gothic, like Westminster cathedral. St. Stephens Westminster built 1846, so the same time as Hursley. This is a dominant style .So there could be many debates about whether Hursley church was a typical new Victorian church.
I have now come to the conclusion that Keble’s ides and planning for Hursley church number 4 were not typical at all. Their ideas were not typical because the Oxford movement was such a small group, so the ideas never became typical. Many other Christians just thought that Oxford movement members were just Roman Catholics in disguise, so they did not like them. The Oxford movement’s main aim was to get people back to church. And so, Keble was part of the Oxford movement. In the 1870s they were upset to see the Church of England being pushed around, so they thought bringing back things, and bringing in new things would help. Oxford movement believed that Jesus died for everyone, but Broad church Christians thought you should just listen to the Priest’s sermons, instead of having communion every week.
These new ideas were Oxford movement ideas, these were: Apostolic succession, Priests are special, Holy Communion, emotion and feeling about Jesus’ sacrifice.
To get people back to church, they believed they had to make priests special. They gave them big robes, a big alter, chancel, sanctuary, and AWN Pugin tiles. They made people believe that they thought Jesus himself was talking, and performs a miracle when he does Communion, and that priests, who ultimately have been blessed by St. Peter, have blessed priests.
