Architectural Salvage

[poliphilo]

These days a seismic wave would pass through the nation if anyone proposed knocking down a Saxon church but our self-confident Victorian ancestors had no such qualms. The old church of St John-sub-Castro was far too small for the needs of the growing parish so they demolished it and replaced it with something that looks like a neo-Gothic engine shed. Luckily an antiquarian (who may have been the barbarous architect- in which case he had a conscience after all) collected up the jollier bits of the old building and incorporated them in the replacement. As well as saving the Magnus inscription he saved the old south doorway and embedded it in the north wall- in an arrangement that combines it with a badly eroded medieval gravestone and a 17th century plaque recording an earlier, less drastic act of restoration.

I didn't take a picture of the existing church- not only because it's so ugly but mainly because it's encased in scaffolding and corrugated iron. When this latest restoration is complete it will function as both a place of worship and a performance space. It may be a blot on the townscape of Lewes but it happens to have marvellous acoustics. I know all this because I happened to meet up with one of the churchwardens who very kindly gave me a guided tour.

Comments

[cmcmck]

"Ruskin says that any man who'll 'improve' a church is an unmitigated sweep"...............

[poliphilo]

I agree with him there.

The Victorians thought they understood the Middle Ages- and mostly they didn't.

[sovay]

It may be a blot on the townscape of Lewes but it happens to have marvellous acoustics.

I'm glad there are redeeming features!