"How lovely is your
dwelling place, Lord God of Hosts..." Psalm
83
If you enter the Cathedral at a quiet moment in the day, don’t
imagine that it is always like this. Westminster Cathedral must be
one of the busiest churches in the United Kingdom. Located in the
heart of London, it is the mother-church of England & Wales. People
are drawn to this great edifice from all over London, all over the
country and the world. If you are trying to imagine ‘what goes
on’ here, consider that there are seven masses each day, many
great services of worship on special occasions and unique gatherings
of every description which fill the Cathedral to the doors.
Westminster Cathedral Choir, justly renowned for consistent excellence,
sings at the Solemn Mass each evening - with few exceptions. Even
when no public ceremony is taking place, the private prayer of individual
believers is a work of faith, continuously in progress. The Cathedral
is a sacred space at the heart of a great city, dedicated to the worship
of God.
Reaching back through time
The architectural master-work of John Francis Bentley (1839-1902).
Bentley was a Victorian church architect of great accomplishments.
However, the new cathedral at Westminster was his first commission
calling for a neo-Byzantine basilica plan, based on Mediterranean
models of the early Christian centuries. Since Christian belief took
hold in the east, the first churches had an oriental character. When
the foundation stone of Hagia Sophia was laid on 23 February, 532
AD two earlier churches on the site had already been destroyed. The
first of these (burnt down by a mob in 404 AD) had been built by the
Emperor Constantine and was one of the earliest buildings erected
for Christian worship.
Bentley’s Grand Tour
It was to buildings such as Hagia Sophia, San Vitale in Ravenna and
St Mark’s, Venice, that Bentley turned for inspiration. In 1894,
to prepare himself mentally and spiritually for the work of designing
the Cathedral, Bentley set out on a European tour of many of the ‘primitive’
church buildings of Europe with St Mark’s, Venice as the high
point of his journey. In Rome, he was received in private audience
by Pope Leo XIII, who held his hands in his own as they talked, finally
bestowing a special blessing on the architect and his great task of
designing a worthy cathedral in the heart of London. John Bentley
returned after four months abroad, with Westminster Cathedral clear
in his mind. We know this, because his detailed plans were soon put
into the hands of his client, Cardinal Herbert Vaughan. Although the
influence of the Byzantine prototypes are there for all to see, Bentley
had no time for slavish imitation and the London cathedral is truly
‘an original’. Working closely with the Cardinal, Bentley
would soon be supervising the construction of the enormous brick shell,
with its domes and the finely detailed and elaborate exterior. Interior
decorations would also commence, but it was always the intention that
future generations of Catholics would gradually complete the interior.
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" J F Bentley’s basilican cathedral is a series of surprises.
First, when near to it, you notice the fine quality of the brickwork
contrasting with the proportional bands of Portland stone. Everywhere
the external detail is precise and delicate, the grouping of turrets,
entrances and windows and blank spaces is carefully contrived
and never dull, never fussy... From the outside you do not expect
what is the greatest surprise of all, that the Cathedral looks
larger inside than it looks from the outside"
Sir John Betjeman
"It is one of the most potent buildings in London with an
almost tangible atmosphere of theatrical spirituality"
Colin
Amery, Financial Times, July 1995
"Just as the bleak enfilade of blank-faced office blocks
in Victoria Street approaches Victoria Station, London springs
one of its most memorable surprises. Between a narrow break in
the buildings, a striped campanile rockets above the weighty majesty
of brick-built Byzantine domes."
Michael Hall, County Life,
July 1995
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