Church History & Guide

8/9/2019 Church History & Guide

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St Saviour’s Church

Pimlico, SW1

CHURCH HISTORY & GUIDE



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Welcome to St Saviour’s, Pimlico

We have been serving the people of Pimlico here for 150 years and

our church, where worship has been

offered daily, has a wonderful history.

Our Christian community includes people

of a wide variety of ages, backgrounds

and lifestyles, and from across the world.

You are welcome to say a prayer or light

a candle, or simply enjoy the beauty of

our building. If you’re able, do join us for

Mass. We hope you enjoy your visit and

look forward to seeing you again soon.

Fr Matthew Catterick, Vicar

A Prayer for Pilgrims

Guardian of my soul, guide me on my way this day.

Keep me safe from harm.

Deepen my relationship with you, your Earth, and all your family.

Strengthen your love within me that I may be a presence of your peace in our

world. Amen

Index

4 Local history

6 A short history of St Saviour’s

7 Timeline

9 The Nave

10 South Aisle

11 North Aisle

12 The Sanctuary and Lady Chapel

13 Stained Glass



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A Map of St Saviour’s



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Pimlico pre-Cubitt

Prior to the 19th century, Pimlico was almost entirely a series of market

gardens known as the ‘Neat House Gardens’. Much of the area was marshland,

with just a few permanent dwellings. Mention of it can be traced back as far as1626, when the overseers of St Martin’s-in-the-Fields would buy their shroud

cloths there.

Map courtesy of Westminster Archives

The northern part of Pimlico was popular for entertainment with taverns and

tea-gardens, including the famous Monster Tavern (Sutherland Row) and

Jenny’s Whim (Ebury Bridge).

The land was part of the Ebury Estate,

which passed to the Grosvenor Family

(the Dukes of Westminster) with the

marriage of the Ebury Estate heir MaryDavies to Sir Thomas Grosvenor in 1677.

The Grosvenor Estate in London covered

modern Mayfair, Belgravia and Pimlico

and was known historically as the ‘five

fields’. The Monster Tavern, Thomas Hosmer Shepherd (1857)

The oldest existing road in Pimlico is Turpentine Lane, now located by the

Peabody Estate. Buildings along the Thames also included a water works, white

lead works, a large distillery, and on the other side of Vauxhall Bridge Road, onthe site of the current Tate Britain, was the vast Millbank Penitentiary.



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Development of Pimlico by Cubitt

After the successful development of Mayfair and Belgravia, attention turned to

the land to the south. George IV had begun to remodel the former Buckingham

House in 1821 and development of the palace made the surrounding areamore attractive. Previous attempts by John Johnson to develop the land had

stalled due to opposition from the market gardeners. Johnson’s name survives

in Johnson’s Place and in the short parade of houses along Grosvenor Road,

next to the King William IV pub, which are the oldest in Pimlico (dating from

c. 1817).

The Duke of Westminster contracted Thomas Cubitt to develop the land in

1825. Cubitt took a longer-term approach and procured the land and leases

piecemeal, which was more successful.

The land was low-lying and marshy and had first to be raised by soil excavation

from St Katherine’s Dock. The first square to be laid out was Eccleston Square.

Pimlico was never quite as smart as nearby Belgravia, and for this reason some

residents preferred to refer to their address as South Belgravia.

Lupus Street, on which St Saviour’s sits, is named after a common Grosvenor

family nickname: Gilbert le Grosveneur was a nephew of William theConqueror and nicknamed ‘Lupus’ (Latin for wolf ).

THOMAS CUBITT (1788 – 1855)

The son of a Norfolk carpenter, he journeyed to India as a ship's carpenter; from which he earned

sufficient funds to start his own building firm in 1810.

Cubitt's first major building was the London Institution in Finsbury Circus

in 1815. He was subsequently commissioned to develop areas of

Bloomsbury, including Gordon Square and Tavistock Square, and later

Pimlico. Cubitt was also responsible for the east front of Buckingham

Palace and built and personally funded nearly a kilometre of the Thames

Embankment. Cubitt's public works include the provision of public parks,

being an organiser of the Battersea Park Scheme.

In 1827 he withdrew from the management of the business he had

established at Gray's Inn Road, leaving such matters to his brother

William. He died in 1855 and was buried in West Norwood Cemetery. Portrait courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Statues of Cubitt by William Fawke can be seen in Denbigh Street, London and its twin in Dorking,

opposite the Dorking Halls.



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Timeline

1863

1882

1887

1889

1897

1900

1912

1914

1917

1928

1931

1939

World War 1

Foundation stone laid

Work to “beautify” the Church

commences

Death of Fr John Walker, first Vicar of

St Saviour’s. Succeeded by Fr HenryWashington.

Blessing of Lady Chapel

First surviving issue of

Parish Magazine

Death of Fr Washington. Succeeded by

Fr Francis Walter Boyd.

Fr Boyd away serving as a Chaplain to

the British Expeditionary Force.

The Thames breaks its banks and there

is terrible flooding in Pimlico. Four

people die in the floods.

Fr Boyd leaves for a parish in

Kent and is succeeded by

Fr Francis R. Langford-James.



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V

1944

1951

1957

1960

1963

1971

1980

1987

1996

2003

World War 2

Fr Langford-James leaves for a parish

in Middlesex and is succeeded by

Fr Samuel Porter

Fr Porter resigns and is

succeeded by Fr Stanley

Goodman

North window blown out

during the Blitz

Two attempts are made to set the Hall

on fire and one of the original almsdishes is stolen

The Hall is let to Young England

Kindergarten

Dedication Festival

Fr Stanley Goodman leaves theparish and is succeeded by

Geoffrey Pollard

Lady Diana Spencer works in the

Kindergarten

Fr Pollard leaves the parish and is

succeeded by Ron Rogers

Fr Rogers leaves the parish and is

succeeded by Paul Jobson

Death of Canon Jobson, succeeded by

Fr Matthew Woodward



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North Aisle

The ground floor of the Tower now houses the

newly refurbished office and reception area.

The spire is 190ft high and a landmark which

can be seen from much of Pimlico. The higher

floors of the Tower house our ring of ten bells

and Smith and Derby clock, which dates from

1895. The original stained glass was blown out

during the Blitz.

Beyond the Tower,

there is an oil

painting by Mollie

Midlane titled

Christ Appearingto St Mary

Magdalene (1975).

Mollie Midlane

was an Australian artist who settled in Pimlico with her husband

Brian (also a painter) after World War II.

The Stations of the Cross begin in the North Aisle; panels of

plaster relief in wooden frames, depicting Christ’s Passion.

The side chapel was blessed in 1889 and later the Mission Altar (c. 1910) was moved tofurnish it from its original position in the old Mission House in Aylesford Street. Above the

Altar is an oak and oil paint parclose screen (1918), which was originally housed in the Lady

Chapel and is believed to be by Nicholson and Corlette.

The space behind the Altar, and to the left of

the Sanctuary, houses the organ loft. The

organ was built by Hill in 1864 and enlarged

in 1892. The console retains the original

straight jambs and large stop-knobs.



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The Sanctuary and Lady Chapel

In the Sanctuary, the reredos depict the Last

Supper and were designed by Romaine

Walker, the son of the first Vicar of

St Saviour’s in 1882. The arcade work datesfrom the same

period.

During an

intensive

cleaning project

in the 1990s, the

elaborate roof

decoration was

rediscovered. It is

believed to datefrom between

1891 and 1899, between which

time money was raised by the

congregation and work began to

thoroughly clean and colour the

church, installing the reredos and

oak panelling. The reredos were carved by Thomas Earp, the

leading ecclesiastical craftsman of his day.

The Altar dates from 1921 and is decorated with shallow reliefcarvings of rose stems and flowers on a frame, with thin walnut

veneer panelling. The Tabernacle at the centre depicts Christ’s

Blessing.

The choir stalls are original to the church and a rood screen

was added in 1911. The screen is of oak, with three tiers of

small arches arranged in threes each side of the opening,

panelled below the dado and open above, with coving,

cresting and a rood with attendant figures.

The Lady Chapel is used for weekday Mass. The altar frontal is

a new addition, purpose made from All Seasons cloth. Blessed

and opened in 1889, the baldacchino was added in 1913 by

Nicholson and Corlette (best known for the rebuilding and

extension of Portsmouth Cathedral) and the panelling and

screen were in 1899. A plaque in the floor of the Lady Chapel

marks the spot where the ashes of Charles Wyndham Rodolph

Kerr were interred in 1894. A landmark case, the

churchwardens and his widow originally applied to inter his

ashes in the wall of the church; burials in London churches and churchyards had been

outlawed since 1853, due to overcrowding. A faculty was granted to allow interment in thefloor.



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Stained Glass

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3

4

6

7

8

9

10

11

5



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1. Sir John Tilley Window

Designed by C.E. Kemp, 1898. Depicts scenes from the life of St Martin. Dedicated to the

memory of Sir John Tilley, churchwarden, the inscription reads: “We pray you remember in

the Lord, Sir John Tilley, Knight Commander of the most honourable Order of the Bath, and

some time Secretary of Her Majesty’s Post Office, who died March 18th 1898, in grateful

recollection of whom his children, relatives and friends have caused this window to bededicated.”

2. The Reverend Henry Washington Window

Records suggest this window was originally planned for the North side of the Church, and

would depict the life of John the Baptist (the subject of Reverend Henry Washington’s last

sermon). For unknown reasons, the window was actually installed on the South side of the

Church and depicts Christ appearing to his Disciples before the Sea of Galilee. The inscription

reads: “To the Glory of God and in memory of Henry Washington, Priest, 25 years Vicar of

this Church. Entered into rest 9 July 1919”.

3. Christ the True Vine, Christ the Light of the World and Christ the Bread of Life c. 1890

Designed by Clayton & Bell. Dedicated to the memory of Charles Stephenson,

Churchwarden.4. The Children’s Window c. 1922

Depicts twelve scenes of angels and lambs, with the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove in the

tracery light. The subject is “Guardian Angel with Boy holding a Shell, denoting Pilgrimage”.

Panels were donated by parishioners.

5. Fragments Window

Made from fragments of stained glass, collected by Colonel Hudson (manager of the Royal

Army Clothing Depot on the site of what is now Dolphin Square) in his travels around the

country after WWII. It is possible this contains fragments of the West window of St Saviour’s,

blown out during the blitz. The window that was blown out is believed to date from 1882

and to have been of old Flemish glass, depicting five scenes: “The Dream of Pilate’s Wife”,

“The Mocking of Christ”, “The Meeting of the BVM and Zecharias”, “Elisha mocked by theChildren”, and “The Accusation”.

6. Life of St Peter 1880

Designed by Clayton & Bell. Donated by a parishioner.

CLAYTON & BELL

One of the most prolific workshops of English stained glass during the late 19th century. The company was

founded in 1855 and continued until 1993. Their windows are found throughout the United Kingdom, in

the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Clayton and Bell's commercial success was due to

the high demand for stained glass windows at time, their use of the best quality glass available, the

excellence of their designs and the employment of efficient factory methods of production.

They collaborated with many of the most prominent Gothic Revival architects and were commissioned by

John Pearson to provide the windows for the newly constructed Truro Cathedral.

The 19th century windows of Clayton and Bell are typified by their brilliant luminosity as they were quick

to adopt the advice of the student of medieval glass, Charles Winston, who propounded that

commercially-made coloured glass was not effective for stained glass windows; it lacked the right

refractive quality. In 1863 John Richard Clayton was among those experimenting with the manufacture of

so-called “pot metal”, or coloured glass, produced by simple ancient manufacturing techniques.

Notable Clayton & Bell Commissions:

the cycle of great scholars produced for the Great Hall of the University of Sydney

the West Window of King's College Chapel, Cambridge, 1878

the mosaics for each side and beneath the canopy of the Albert Memorial Truro Cathedral

an altarpiece for the Chapel of Saints Augustine and Gregory, Catholic Cathedral of Westminster



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7. St Dorcas 1890

A Morris influenced window by Clayton & Bell depicting three scenes from the life of St

Dorcas. Donated by a parishioner.

8. Three Scenes in Our Lord’s Resurrection 1890

Designed by Clayton and Bell. Donated by a parishioner.

9.

The East WindowDepicts Christ in Majesty, surrounded by saints, prophets and Old Testament figures, the

orders of angels, with scenes from the Creation in small predella panels and the Agnus Dei

and angels in the tracery. Designed by Romaine Walker, son of the first Vicar of St Saviour’s,

and installed by Clayton & Bell as part of “beautification of the Church” in the 1880s.

10. The Crucifixion 1870

By Lavers, Barraud and Westlake

11. The Reverend John Walker Window also known as Christ in Judgement

Depicts events from the fourth chapter of the book of Revelations (‘come hither and I will

show you judgement’) and erected in memory of the first Vicar of St Saviour’s by his son in

1887. Recognisably the work of Clayton & Bell. The figure of St John in the foreground a

portrait of Reverend Walker.

John Tilley Window East Window John Walker Window



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Vicars of St Saviour’s, Pimlico: Past & Present

1864 - 1887 John Walker

1887 - 1912 Henry Washington

1912 - 1931 Francis Walter Boyd

1931 - 1944 Francis Langford James

1944 - 1951 Samuel Porter

1952 - 1970 Stanley Goodman

1971 - 1986 Geoffrey Pollard

1987 - 1996 Ron Rogers

1997 - 2003 Paul Jobson

2005 - 2010 Matthew Woodward

2011 - Present Matthew Catterick

We hope you have enjoyed your visit, and

would be grateful if you would leave a

donation to help us continue to maintain this

magnificent building.

St Saviour’s Church

St George’s Square

Pimlico, London

SW1V 3QW

020 7834 9520

[email protected]

www.stsp.org.ukCharity Reg Number 1131373

http://www.stsp.org.uk/

http://www.stsp.org.uk/

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