A Dream of Marble Halls
The neo-Byzantine interior of Westminster Cathedral is intended to be adorned with two basic materials – marble and mosaic. The Cathedral’s Architect, John Francis Bentley, was an expert in the selection of marble – when it came to mosaic he depended on his friend Christian Symonds, the painter, to start developing the mosaic technique and craftsmanship envisaged for the chapels and upper reaches of the great interior.
When people say ‘I think they should leave it as it is’ they are echoing the thoughts of many who really love the dark cavernous spaces of the domes and giant arches of grime-covered brick which soar above the nave and sanctuary. What they forget is that no architect designs a building with the idea of leaving it unfinished as a matter of preference. He designs a complete scheme with a clear vision of what the final effect will be. We should be quite clear that one day – perhaps in the new millennium – the whole upper section of the Cathedral’s interior will be ablaze with rich mosaics telling the story of our redemption – the source of all Christian joy and hope.
Enter Aelred
Through the years a great deal of marble has been selected and installed – so much so that most of the work is now complete. Only in 1995, with the help of mosaicist and marble expert Aelred Bartlett, the largest remaining blank spaces in the nave were filled with huge quartered panels of rare marble – some of it blue, one of the rarest colours in natural stone. It is disappointing but almost certainly true that (given such a vast interior) that some of today’s visitors – looking around for the first time – may not even notice that this enormous addition to the decorated surface has even been attempted, let alone completed!
Aelred with his brothers – one (the late Mgr Francis Bartlett) a former Cathedral Administrator, another (the late Anthony) – grew up in the shadow of Westminster Cathedral. Their father ran an ecclesiastical arts and furnishings business in premises now displaced by the Piazza. Aelred trained as a painter at the Slade, but always had a passion for architecture. Kenneth Powell* has written: ‘Bentley had barely begun his great scheme of enrichment when he died in 1902, aged 63, followed a year later by the founder of Westminster Cathedral, Cardinal Vaughan. In the mid-fifties, when church authorities gave the go-ahead for interior work to recommence, Aelred was brought in. His approach was to continue the work of carrying out Bentley’s original intentions.’
Coping with the brutalist years
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‘Marble was intensely
unfashionable then,’ says Bartlett, ‘Their idea of colour was
brown and grey. Sir John Rothenstein was ‘a pain in the neck’,
while other committee members argued that the bare brickwork should be
left untouched. John Betjeman was one of the few helpful people, who understood
Bentley’s ideas.’
‘Church art was at
a low ebb in the ‘fifties and ‘sixties. Many churches were compromised
by ill-judged ‘re-ordering’.
Yet at Westminster, wiser counsel prevailed. In part, this was due to
the influence of two enlightened Administrators, Mgr Gordon Wheeler (later
Bishop of Leeds) and Mgr Francis Bartlett. Both men loved the building
and believed architecture and art were ways to God. Thanks to their inspiration,
the money was raised to press on. Aelred and Francis Bartlett set off
for Europe and the Near East, seeking the marbles that Bentley had specified.
The great expanses of red marble for the nave were something of a problem.
Bentley had intended to use Cork Red, but the quarry had long closed.
Aelred found the abandoned site filled with water in the middle of a potato
field just outside Cork. With the help of the Irish Government, the quarry
was drained and reactivated. Westminster Cathedral got its Cork Red. Bentley
had intended that at least 60 different marbles should be used in the
decoration. So far, according to John Phillips, over 100 types have been
included.’
‘The 1995 Centenary of the Cathedral produced plans for a renewed
campaign of enrichment linked to the £10m appeal. Aelred Bartlett
was glad to be brought out of retirement to advise on filling with marble
a number of bare brick panels in the nave. Only then did he discover that
the supply firms he had known in the ‘sixties had vanished. Then,
by chance, he discovered Stone Productions Ltd of Wandsworth – half
a mile from his home. In their yard he was shown a piece of Azul Macauba,
an intense blue marble from Brazil. ‘Bentley obviously never knew
it, But I’m convinced he would approve it enthusiastically’,
he says. ‘Today we have access to new sources that he would have
found thrilling. Combined with a red Verona marble that Bentley would
have known, the blue marble has completed the decoration of the nave.’
Tim Dean
*Sunday Telegraph
15 January 1995.
Marble
decoration in the Lady Chapel.
The
Cosmati floor in St Paul's Chapel.
Marble
arcading in St Patrick's Chapel.
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