When a civilization ends, it does not leave behind a tombstone. Instead, it leaves stackings of stones (i.e. buildings.) We lose the remembrance of individual people, the things they said, did, and wrote, but we remember what they built because those things endure for much longer. The Ancient Greeks and Romans tell us about themselves through their Classical Architecture. We remember the Medieval period in Europe from its castles and Gothic Cathedrals. We remember the early 20th century from the Art Deco buildings it left behind. The style tells us something about their priorities, what they believed, what they knew, and what their hopes were. In a sense, the buildings a culture leaves behind are a kind of epitaph.
Let’s look through the structural epitaphs of our ancestors.
St Mary Magdalene, Paddington (Rowington Close, London, England)
This is one of the most beautiful Churches of which most people have never heard. It was planned by Rev. Richard Temple West, in the 1860s, for an impoverished part of London. The idea was that the Church would be incredibly beautiful and thereby attract attendees. The plan worked.
West managed to get the already famous Gothic Revivalist architect, George Edmund Street, to design the church and then he enlisted artists to fill the building with stained glass, mosaics, and sculptures. Th eend result is widely considered to be Street’s masterpiece. The church has served as a filming location for multiple major productions.
(more via wiki)
St Mary Magdalene, Paddington, is a Grade I listed Anglican church at Rowington Close, London, dedicated to Jesus’ follower, Saint Mary Magdalene.
The parish was established in 1865 and work on the church started in 1867. Although complete in 1872 (154 years ago), a fire destroyed the brand new roof so the first Mass in the new building could not be celebrated until St Mary Magdalene’s Day, 22 July 1873. The church was consecrated after completion of interior decoration on 21 October 1878 (148 years ago).
The architect was George Edmund Street, and this church is considered to be his masterpiece. It includes notable stained glass by Henry Holiday, Salviati mosaics, sculptures by Thomas Earp, a later crypt chapel by Ninian Comper, and a War Memorial by Martin Travers.
The painted ceiling of the nave, the work of Daniel Bell, was cleaned and restored during 2018–19, with the help of a grant from the Lottery Heritage Fund. With assistance from the Paddington Development Trust, an extension was also built, containing additional spaces and facilities intended for use by the wider local community.
Cultural associations
St Mary Magdalene is thought to be the church that inspired the composer John Ireland to become an Anglo-Catholic. The novelist Barbara Pym was a member of the congregation in 1971–72, while living in Queen’s Park. P. D. James is thought to have used the church as a model for one of the locations in her novel A Taste for Death.
The church and surrounding neighbourhood were used as a location in the 1968 movie Secret Ceremony with Elizabeth Taylor. Scenes from the 2012 film of Les Misérables were also filmed there.
St Mary Magdalene
War Memorial by Martin Travers
The nave with sculptures by Thomas Earp
Chapel of St Sepulchre, organ
Stained glass by Henry Holiday
Chancel
Nave ceiling by Daniel Bell
Salviati mosaic
Chapel of St Sepulchre by Sir Ninian Comper
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It’s really hard to appreciate this gem in pictures. You need to see it in movement. If you can’t go in person, or if you don’t want to watch the films it has starred in, I think the next best option is to take a virtual tour of this place on YouTube. It’s really incredible.
