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-1829.]

St. Mark's Chapel, North Audley-street.

NEW CHURCHES. No. XXIV.

TH

ST. MARK'S CHAPEL, NORTH AUDLEY STREET. Architect, J. P. Gandy-Deering. CHE portico of this Chapel, which ranges with the houses on the eastern side of the street, is the only portion of the building open to public observation; it forms the first subject in the accompanying engraving *. The body of the Chapel is built on a piece of ground in the rear.

The ground-plan is divided into a portico, behind which is a small lobby; to this succeeds a vestibule or pronaos, which communicates with the body of the Chapel by another lobby; the body is nearly square, not divided into aisles, with a chancel at the east end flanked by vestries.

The portico is composed of two coJumns and two piers, the latter ornamented with antæ in pairs, the coJumns fluted; the order is Ionic, from the Erectheum. The whole is surmounted by an entablature composed of an architrave of three faces, a frieze and a dentil cornice of bold projection, the cymatium enriched with honeysuckles and charged with lions' heads at intervals; aud crowned with a lofty blocking-course, having a pedestal at each end. The walls of the interior of the portico are marked by horizontal lines in imitation of rustic, and at the back are three entrances; the centre, of large proportions, is surmounted by a bold cornice resting on consoles; the ceiling is enriched with caissons.

The tower, which rises from the roof of the lobby, immediately behind the portico, is not inelegant in design, but it wants elevation, and in consequence of its distance from the street (owing to the depth of the portico), can scarcely be seen in a near point of view. The elevation is in two portions, first a cubical pedestal, which seems to be unnecessarily and uselessly guarded at the angles by square pedestal-formed buttresses; it is crowned by a cornice, and forms a stylobate to the second story, which is an irregular octagon in plan, the smaller sides placed against the angles of the square

* The building at the right-hand side of the Chapel, in common with most of the houses in the street, shows the heavy style of Sir John Vanbrugh.

GENT. MAG. November, 1829.

393

plan. At each angle of the superstructure is an anta, the intervals between which are open, the larger spaces filled to about a third of their height by a breastwork, and the remainder, which is filled in with iron work, pierced in is divided in breadth by a small anta, circles; the whole is surmounted by a neat entablature, the eaves enriched with Grecian tiles, and covered with a pyramidal stone roof. On the apex is a pedestal sustaining a gilt ball and cross. The portion before described is tural character. The front of the body all that has any pretension to architecof the Chapel is shewn in the engraving; above the portico, it is devoid of ornament, and the flanks are in a corre sponding style; each flank is pierced with ten windows in two series, the upper arched and lofty; a string course of impost cornice. These portions abut of brickwork being introduced by way on small yards, from which are entrances to the Chapel, and the southern one communicates with a street in the

rear.

THE INTERIOR.

The western entrances communicate with a narrow lobby, extending across the whole breadth; from this by four square antæ into three ailes. the pronaos is entered, which is divided The ceiling is horizontal, enriched with square sunk panels, two of which in the ailes are pierced, and admit light to the vestibule, this hypethral light being all that it receives. At the east end are the stairs to the galleries, which are very tastefully arranged. At the exthe body of the Chapel is entered by a tremity is another lobby, from which triple doorway. This long porch or Church, if not quite unique; and should gallilee is very unusual in a modern ancient discipline chance to be reof penitents crowd its area, instead of vived, it might have its use, and a body the fashionable belles who embellish An evil is attendant on the protracted it at the conclusion of their devotions. entrance to this chapel; the porch is too grand for the temple, the specunusual splendour at the end of the tator expects to see a Church of nothing but disappointment. The body spacious vestibule, and he meets with of the Chapel is neither very spacious, nor is it distinguished by ornament; it shows, like many modern Churches, a large unbroken area. The walls are

394

St. Mark's Chapel, North Audley-street.

crowned with an architrave of three faces, the upper one enriched with roses, and surmounted by a cornice of bold projection; the dentil band, being uncut, has the appearance of a small frieze. At the west end, where a recess is made above the lobby to accommodate the charity children, the architrave rests on antæ, but at the east end it is broken at the chancel, and returned by the side walls, to the extreme end; the cornice only crosses the recess, in which a gross inconsistency is apparent. The width of the chancel is too great to admit of a lintel strong enough to cover the whole, and the cornice therefore too plainly shows that it is in fact sustained by what it appears to support, a fault very common in modern works. Antæ are applied to the angles of the recess, and are also attached at intervals to the eastern wall of the Church and chancel. The necks of the caps are enriched with a frieze of honeysuckles, which is continued along the whole design at this end of the building, below the architrave.

The upper windows of the flank walls are arched; the heads are bounded by an architrave springing from a continued impost. The ceiling is horizontal. The body of the Chapel has in the centre a large parallelogramshaped panel, surrounded by a series of square ones, all sunk. The chancel has one row of double sunk panels, containing flowers.

A gallery is erected across the west end, and continued along the side walls. The front consists of an architrave and cornice, sustained on fluted Doric columns, and surmounted by a plain attic; the whole of the mouldings being continued along the unengaged part of the eastern wall, divide the elevation into two stories.

The altar-screen occupies the centre of the chancel, and is in imitation of marble. The design is bounded at each side by piers, with caps enriched with honeysuckles and volutes, and made by small antæ into three portions; the central is occupied with a large panel of crimson velvet, having the monogram IHS in a glory in the midst, and the side divisions bear the Paternoster and Creed; the whole is surmounted by a fricze and cornice, the former enriched with gilt honeysuckles. The entablature is crowned with a blocking course, having a pedestal at

[Nov.

each end, and a smaller but similar blocking course is added above the centre, in the middle of which is a pedestal, on which was at first a chalice, now removed, a specimen no doubt of contract work, and it is to be feared that the unengaged ornaments of many of the new Churches will meet with a like fate. Above this portion is an oblong window, tastefully glazed with lilac coloured glass, within a border of enriched honeysuckles. The panes are marked with stars, and in the centre is a large calvary cross, in white glass. The decalogue is inscribed on two slabs of porphyry, affixed to the east wall, at the sides of the screen. The altar is properly raised on steps. The pulpit and desk are uniform; they are situated on opposite sides of the area, and in design resemble the tower of the Chapel. The organ case is wainscot in three portions, made by antæ, the central crowned with a pediment. It stands in the western portion of the gallery, and at the sides of it, but retiring behind the line of the elevation, are galleries for the charity children.

The interior of the present design is not remarkable for originality; it belongs to a class unfortunately too numerous; the unbroken area borrowed from the meeting-house is so ill suited to the dignity of a Church, that it is to be regretted the Commissioners had not enforced the ancient division into nave and ailes, in every new Church of magnitude.

The west front and tower possess undoubted claims to originality, and are not devoid of elegance. The turret is a pleasing specimen of Grecian design. It approaches, however, like Brixton *, to the common parent of modern Grecian towers, the temple of the Winds at Athens.

This building is a chapel of ease to St. George, Hanover-square, and we observe with pleasure that the parish has bestowed a more appropriate name upon it than that very improper appellation we complained of in the case of Hanover Chapel, in the same parisht. It is calculated to hold 1610 persons, of whom 784 are accommodated with free sittings. The Royal Commissioners made the same grant to this as to the others in the parish, viz.

* Described in the present volume, pt. i.

p. 577.

+ Vide vol. xcv. pt. ii. p. 577.

1829.]

St. Mary's Church, Greenwich.

5555l. 11s. Id. The first stone was laid on the 7th Sept. 1825, and the building was consecrated on the 25th April, 1828.

ST. MARY'S CHURCH, GREENWICH.

Architect, Basevi.

This elegant and pleasing edifice may be regarded as one of the best specimens of the adaptation of Grecian architecture to the purposes of a Church. The ground plau is divided into a nave in the usual form of a parallelogram, with a chancel at the east end, and a series of lobbies and a portico at the opposite extremity. The body of the Church is not disposed into nave and aisles, the entire area, with the exception of a transverse portion at the west end, separated from the rest by two piers, being open.

The superstructure is built of a clean white brick with stone dressings, and the tower and portico are also constructed of the latter material. The west front is ornamented with a tetrastyle portico of the Ionian Ionic order, raised on a flight of steps, and covered with a pediment; in the returns the epistyles are received on antæ attached to the wall of the Church, and the cornice is surmounted by a blocking course. The main building behind the portico is divided into three portions, i. e. a centre flanked by lobbies; in the centre portion are three lintelled entrances; the principal, which is in the middle, is crowned with an entablature in which is inserted a square slab or tablet, bearing a Calvary cross in relief. Immediately over this doorway is seen a composition of sculpture representing the two tables of the Law borne by an angel. The ceiling of the portico is unornamented; the lobbies have arched windows on the fronts, and are finished in antis, and in elevation with an entablature continued from the portico. At the sides of this front, and forming small wings, are low walls with false entrances, apparently leading to a cemetery, which give additional breadth and value to the façade. The doors are oak, ornamented with Calvary crosses, and inscribed "PER CRUCEM SOLVIMUR," and the piers are surmounted by urns. The tower rises from behind the centre of the portico, from a low attic answering in breadth to the central division of the front, it is made into two

395

stories, square in plan, and composed of a plinth and superstructure; the lower story is solid, ornamented with antæ in groups of three at the angles, and crowned with a simple entablature: in each face is a lintelled opening filled in with weather boards. This story is surmounted with an attic. The pedestal of the upper story is pierced with the clock dials; and the superstructure is open. At the angles are piers, each composed of an anta, and two attached columns of the irregular Corinthian order of the Tower of the Winds at Athens. An entablature surmounted by a parapet, ornamented with a series of small arches, finishes the elevation. At the angles, by way of pinnacles, are square altars with flames.

The body of the Church commences behind the portion hitherto described. The moulding continued from the attic is applied as a crowning member to the walls, except at the ends, where the wall rises to a gable, which at this end are partly cor cealed by the tower. Each flank contains six lofty well-proportioned windows; the first from the west with its piers is a little in advance of the rest. The piers of all stand out in relief, and are surmounted by arches turned over all the windows, in consequence the monotony created by dead walls is avoided, and the good taste of the architect is further displayed by his constructing but one series of windows. The sill of each window is ornamented with a dentil cornice sustained on trusses.

The east front in arrangement resembles the western extremity of the Church; the chancel answering to the portico. In the ends of the walls of the Church, and also in the extremity of the chancel, are blank windows; the flanks of the latter having small arched lights.

THE INTERIOR

Is decorated in a style of elegance rarely met with in modern Churches; a considerable degree of ornament is introduced, but there is nothing su perfluous or gaudy.

The western, which are the sole entrances, communicate with lobbies, which are finished with appropriate plainness; but the body of the Church is calculated to impress the spectator with ideas and feelings appropriate to the sacred and august character of the edifice, and forms a splendid exception

396

St. Mary's Church, Greenwich.

to the generality of buildings formed on the same plan. The windows are bounded by architraves, which finish square above the arches, allowing of the introduction of a flower in the spandrils, the whole being crowned by a cornice: below the sills are festoons of flowers and fruit, in the style of the works of Gibbons. The walls of the Church are finished by an entablature, composed of an architrave of two fascias (the upper being enriched with honeysuckles), a frieze, and a cornice. In the chancel two magnificent fluted Corinthian columns, elevated on pedestals, divide the opening into three in, tercolumniations, the central consider ably wider than the others; the angles are finished with pilasters, which are also applied at the angles of the body of the Church: upon the capitals rests the entablature. At the opposite extremity the entablature is received on two insulated antæ, corresponding with those at the eastern end; and here the entablature is broken and returned to the wall of the Church, forming a bold and deep recess, which corresponds with the chancel.

The ceiling is tastefully parcelled out into compartments, reminding the architectural critic of some of Wren's designs. A large octagon panel surrounded by a modillion cornice occupies the greater part of the ceiling, leaving room for a single range of panels around it, consisting of caissons with stars, and circular flowers at the angles. In the midst of the grand compartment is a splendid circular ornament, answering the purposes both of ventilation and embellishment. It commences with a recessed circle, richly gilt and burnished; it bears on its centre a white triangle, ensigned with the monogram IHS, and a cross highly gilt. This is surrounded with a border charged with stars, and a succeeding one pannelled, the whole inclosed in a series of elegant honeysuckles in relief. Besides this ornament there are two smaller flowers in the Ingth of the panel.

A gallery is erected on each side, and across the west end. It is raised on square antæ with caps, composed of an architrave, charged with pellets, and surmounted by an echinus. The first range of pews is brought forward, and supported on cantilevers; the fronts form an attic charged at the sides alternately with the chalice and patin be

[Nov.

tween palm branches, respectively situated over the antæ; on the western portion are the King's arms. The ceiling under the gallery is a segment arch ribbed. The pulpit and readingdesk are each square, and situate on opposite sides of the area. The forms are similar, but they are not copies of each other; on each side of the doors are enriched pedestals. The pulpit is more enriched than the reading-desk, and is ornamented with inlaying. In the western recess is the organ, tastefully ornamented. The large columns of the chancel and the several pilasters are made to imitate antique marble; the shafts of the columns are grey, the pilasters Sienna marble; the rich and elegant capitals and the bases, statuary; the pedestals of the columns, and autæ of the chancel, a delicate red marble; the entablatures, veined marble; all of which are admirably contrasted with the sober grey tint of the walls.

The chancel and the altar are the only parts undescribed. The former. is divided by bronzed rails, ranging with the pedestals of the columns. The ceiling is pannelled. The altar screen is oak, made into three compartments by Corinthian columns, with gilt capitals; the intercolumnia tion having the usual inscriptions. Immediately above is a large painting by Richter, representing our Saviour giving sight to the blind. This painting occupies the lower part of the recess answering to the eastern window; the space over the picture, being the arched head, is highly gilt: in the centre is the monogram IHS, and a cross, on each side of which are two angels in the act of adoration, beautifully painted in imitation of statuary marble. Above the whole the following inscription: "UT IN NOMINE JESU

OMNE GENU FLECTATUR COLESTIUM
TERRESTRIUM ET INFERNORUM.".
(Philippians, ch. ii. v. 10.) On the
altar, and also on pedestals of lapis la-
zuli, against the side walls, are hand-
some lamps in the style of candelabra.

Having, I fear, trespassed on your. readers' time by the minute description of this building, I shall conclude this lengthened article with but a few observations.

The view of the Church from the south-west, which forms the second subject in the engraving, conveys a faithful idea of the exterior, which is characterised by simplicity and neat

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