SINCE writing the above little note on Amesbury church, the necessary
repairs to the tower have been most sympathetically carried out by Mr.
Detmar Blow. No changes are to be noticed from the exterior—the test of
a good architect’s work applied to old buildings. The underpinning
disclosed the remains of a Saxon pillar embedded in the masonry of the
nave wall—may not this fact go to prove that the present building stands
on the site of Elfrida’s church? At the completion of Mr. Blow’s work,
which includes the underpinning of the tower, repairs to the nave, and
the rehanging of the bells, further repairs were found to be necessary.
The Rev. F. Windley (the new vicar) held a meeting, dismissing Mr. Blow
and appointing Mr. Warre as architect in his place, with most unfortunate
results. The roof of the exquisite little chapel has been removed and
altered to a higher pitch, inferior flint work used, and crude yellow
stones instead of the beautiful silvery-grey old coping. This act of
vandalism was done against the wishes of the Society for the Protection
of Ancient Buildings, and my own. No “restorations” (so called) should
ever be allowed for these buildings, only “repairs.” The pitch of the
old roof should not have been altered, even if originally higher, as, so
to speak, the whole thing had grown together; also nothing but old stones
for coping should have been used, and grey flints instead of black ones.
It is extraordinary to see the damage done to the rare and beautiful
buildings in this neighbourhood. Yellow stones, hideous in colour, put
in with still more hideous plaster, is the local idea of suitable
“restoration.” The vandal architect Butterfield buried (in 1853) under
the chancel the memorial tablets, at the same time breaking up the lovely
old font and burying its remains. This latter has been beautifully
mended by Mr. Kite, builder. The memorial tablets, some very beautiful,
have not yet been rehung, as they should be, in the body of the church.
[Picture: Amesbury Abbey, 1900]
I was requested to give a cross for the altar. I had a copy made of the
celebrated Celtic “Cross of Cong.” I also presented an altar-cloth of
old crimson Italian damask (from Florence). A dove, embroidered in
different tones of gold and silver thread, decorates the frontal. Mr.
Windley thought fit to cut and alter this altar-cloth, adding an
unsuitable top and fringe, and spoiling the effect of the chancel by
covering the pink alabaster with cheap, ugly, woven materials. The
effect of the delicate lines of the Celtic cross and the crimson damask
are by this treatment utterly ruined.