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Augustus Pugin

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This article is about the English architect and designer, 1812–1852. For other members of his family, see Pugin (surname).

Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin
Born(1812-03-01)1 March 1812
Keppel St, Bloomsbury, London
Died14 September 1852(1852-09-14) (aged 40)
Ramsgate, Kent, England, U.K.
NationalityBritish
OccupationArchitect
BuildingsPalace of Westminster
Designmany Victorian churches
Tile, 1845–1851, Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin V&A Museum no. C.1A-1978

Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin (1 March 1812 – 14 September 1852) was an English architect, designer, and theorist of design, now best remembered for his work in the Gothic Revival style, particularly churches and the Palace of Westminster. Pugin was the father of E. W. Pugin and Peter Paul Pugin, who continued their father's architectural firm as Pugin and Pugin, and designed numerous buildings, including several in Australia and Ireland.[citation needed]

Significance in the Gothic Revival

Ground-plan of the Diorama Building, London 1823, by A. Pugin and J. Morgan
St Albans market square in Hertfordshire (1838)

He was the son of a French draughtsman, Augustus Charles Pugin, who trained him to draw Gothic buildings for use as illustrations in his books, and his wife Catherine Welby.

Between 1821 and 1838 Pugin and his father published a series of volumes of architectural drawings, the first two entitled, Specimens of Gothic Architecture, and the following three, Examples of Gothic Architecture, that were to remain both in print and the standard references for Gothic architecture for at least the next century.

Following the destruction by fire of the Palace of Westminster in 1834, Pugin was employed by Sir Charles Barry to work on the new Parliament buildings in London. This followed shortly after a similar period of employment by Barry for the interior design of King Edward's School, Birmingham. He converted to Catholicism in 1835, but also designed and refurbished Anglican and Catholic churches throughout the country.

Other works include St Chad's Cathedral, Erdington Abbey, and Oscott College, all in Birmingham. He also designed the college buildings of St Patrick and St Mary in St. Patrick's College, Maynooth; though not the college chapel. His original plans included both a chapel and an aula maxima, neither of which were built due to financial constraints. The college chapel was designed by a follower of Pugin, the Irish architect J.J.McCarthy. Also in Ireland, Pugin designed St. Mary's Cathedral in Killarney, St. Aidan's Cathedral, Enniscorthy (renovated in 1996) and the Dominican church of the Holy Cross in Tralee. He revised the plans for St. Michael's Church in Ballinasloe, Galway.

Palace of Westminster

Palace of Westminster

Pugin's biographer Rosemary Hill (God's Architect: Pugin and the Building of Romantic Britain (2007)) shows that Barry may have designed the Palace as a whole and that only he could coordinate such a large project and dealing with its difficult paymasters, but he relied entirely on Pugin for its Gothic interiors, wallpapers and furnishings, including the royal thrones and the Palace's clock tower in which Big Ben hangs. It is very close in form to earlier Pugin designs, including one for Scarisbrick Hall. The tower was Pugin's last design before descending into madness and dying. In her biography, Hill quotes Pugin as writing of what is probably his best known building: "I never worked so hard in my life [as] for Mr Barry for tomorrow I render all the designs for finishing his bell tower and it is beautiful."

Pugin and the Earl of Shrewsbury

Inside SS Peter and Paul, Newport, Shropshire, designed by Augustus Pugin.

The Talbots lived near the town of Newport, Shropshire and Pugin was responsible for designing the oldest catholic church in Shropshire, St Peter and Paul,

SS Peter and Paul designed by Augustus Pugin.

Pugin in Ireland

Pugin was invited to Ireland by the Redmond family to work initially in the South East in Co. Wexford. He arrived in Ireland in 1838 at a time of greater religious tolerance, when Catholic churches were permitted to be built. Most of his work in Ireland consisted of religious work. Pugin demanded the highest quality of workmanship from his craftsmen, particularly the stonemasons who were well able for him. His subsequent visits to the country were infrequent and of short duration.

Buildings in Ireland attributed to Pugin

  • Church of Assumption of Mary, Bree, Co. Wexford. 1837 - 1839. Patronage from the Redmond family.
  • St. Peter's College, Summerhill Road, Wexford, Co. Wexford. Chapel.1838-1841. 6 bay chapel integrated as part of the College. Built in Wexford red sandstone. Various Pugin elements including stations of cross, balcony, rood screen etc.removed in renovation of 1950.
  • Church of St. James's, Ramsgrange, Co. Wexford. 1838- 1843.
  • Chapel at Loreto Abbey, Rathfarnham, Dublin 16. Currently vacant and out of use.
  • Church of St. Michael the Archangel, Gorey, Co. Wexford. 1839 -1842. Cruciform plan in Romanesque style. 9 bay nave. Low square tower over the crossing. The design may have been influenced by Dunbrody Abbey, Co. Wexford. Built in Ballyscartin limestone with Wicklow granite dressings. Spire not constructed. Patronage of Sir. Thomas Esmonde and family.
  • Loreto Convent, St. Michaels Road, Gorey, Co. Wexford. 1842-1844.
  • St. Mary's Cathedral, Killarney, co. Kerry. 1842 - 1856. Cruciform early English style in limestone. Much modified. 12 bay nave and spire over the crossing completed by others.
  • Two Villas, Cobh, Co. Cork. 1842 for 5th. Viscount Midleton.
  • Church of St. Mary's, Tagoat, Co. Wexford. 1843- 1848. Cruciform plan. 5 bay nave and aisles. Contains Pugin brasses, tiles etc. Damaged in fire 1936.
  • St. Aidan's Cathedral, Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford. 1843- 1860. Cruciform plan.
  • Church of St. Alphonsus or Blessed Virgin Mary, Barntown, Co.Wexford. 1844 -1848. 7 bay church with nave and aisles. Scissors roof truss. Design may be based on an early church at Stanton, Cambridgeshire. Interior much modified.
  • Houses, Midleton, Co. Cork. For Viscount Midleton. 1845.
  • St. Patrick's College, Maynooth, co. Kildare. 1845 - 1850. Quadrangles.
  • Presentation Convent, Waterford, Co. Waterford. Quadrangle and internal cloister.
  • Presentation Monastery, Port Road, Killarney, Co. Kerry. 1846 -1862.
  • Adare Manor, Adare, Co. Limerick. 1846. Alterations including hall ceiling, staircase, gallery etc.
  • St. John's Convent of Mercy, Birr, Co. Offaly. 1846 - 1856. completed by E.W. Pugin.

Pugin and Australia

St Francis Xavier's Church, Berrima, New South Wales, designed by Augustus Pugin.

The first Catholic bishop of New South Wales, Australia, John Bede Polding, met Pugin and was present when St. Chad's Cathedral, Birmingham and St. Giles' Catholic Church, Cheadle were officially opened. Polding persuaded Pugin to design a series of churches for him. Although a number of churches do not survive, St Francis Xavier's in Berrima, New South Wales is regarded as a fine example of a Pugin church.

St Stephen’s Chapel in the cathedral grounds in Elizabeth St, Brisbane, was built to a design of AWN Pugin. Construction began in 1848, and the first Mass in the church was celebrated on 12 May 1850. In 1859 James Quinn was appointed Bishop of Brisbane, Brisbane becoming a diocese, and Pugin's small church became a cathedral. When the new cathedral of St Stephen was opened in 1874 the small Pugin church became a school room, and later church offices and storage room. It was several times threatened with demolition before its restoration in the 1990s.

In Sydney, there are several altered examples of his work , namely St Benedict's, Chippendale; St Charles Borromeo, Ryde; the former church of St Augustine of Hippo (next to the existing church), Balmain; and St Patrick's Cathedral, Parramatta, which was gutted by a fire in 1996 [1]. Pugin's legacy in Australia, is particularly of the idea of what a church should look like:

Pugin's notion was that Gothic was Christian and Christian was Gothic, ... It became the way people built churches and perceived churches should be. Even today if you ask someone what a church should look like, they'll describe a Gothic building with pointed windows and arches. Right across Australia, from outback towns with tiny churches made out of corrugated iron with a little pointed door and pointed windows, to our very greatest cathedrals, you have buildings which are directly related to Pugin's ideas.[1]

After his death A.W. Pugin's two sons; E. W. Pugin and Peter Paul Pugin, continued operating their father's architectural firm under the name Pugin and Pugin. This work includes most of the "Pugin" buildings in Australia and New Zealand.

Later years

The Grange, Ramsgate, was designed by Pugin for his own use.

A.W.N. Pugin died, at the age of 40, on 14 September 1852 as a result, not of insanity, but probably of the effects of syphilis.[2] His body is in a vault under the church that he designed next to The Grange in Ramsgate.[3]

Pugin's legacy extends far beyond his own architectural designs. He was responsible for popularising a style and philosophy of architecture that reached into every corner of Victorian life. He influenced writers like John Ruskin, and designers like William Morris. His ideas were expressed in private and public architecture and art throughout Great Britain and beyond. {{citation}}: Empty citation (help)

List of Pugin's principal buildings in the United Kingdom

House designs, with approximate date of design and current condition

[4]

  • St Marie’s Grange, Alderbury (1835) – altered; a private house
  • Derby presbytery (1838) – demolished
  • Scarisbrick Hall (1837) – largely intact; a school
  • Uttoxeter presbytery (1838) – largely intact; in use
  • Keighley presbytery (1838) – altered; in use
  • Bishop’s House, Birmingham (1840) – demolished
  • Warwick Bridge presbytery – intact with minor alterations; in use
  • Clergy House, Nottingham (1841) – largely intact; in use
  • Garendon Hall scheme (1841) – not executed
  • Bilton Grange (1841) – intact; now a school
  • Oxenford Grange farm buildings (1841) – intact; private house and farm
  • Cheadle presbytery (1842) – largely intact; now a private house
  • Woolwich presbytery (1842) – largely intact; in use
  • Brewood presbytery (1842) – largely intact; in use
  • St Augustine’s Grange (“The Grange”), Ramsgate (1843) – restored by the Landmark Trust
  • Alton Castle (1843) – intact; a Catholic youth centre
  • Oswaldcroft, Liverpool (1844) – altered; a residential home
  • Dartington Hall scheme (1845) – unexecuted
  • Lanteglos-by-Camelford rectory (1846) – much altered; an hotel
  • Rampisham rectory (1846) – unaltered; private house
  • Woodchester Park scheme (1846) – unexecuted
  • Fulham presbytery (1847) – intact; in use
  • Leighton Hall, Powys (1847) – intact; in use
  • Banwell Castle (1847) - intact now a hotel and restaurant
  • Wilburton Manor House (1848) – largely intact; a school
  • Pugins Hall (1850) - intact, a private house

Institutional designs

  • Convent of Mercy, Bermondsey (1838) – destroyed
  • Mount St. Bernard Abbey (1839) – largely intact; in use
  • Downside Abbey schemes (1839 and 1841) – unexecuted
  • Convent of Mercy, Handsworth 1840 – largely intact; in use
  • St John’s Hospital, Alton (1841) – intact; in use
  • Convent of St Joseph, school and almshouses, Chelsea, London (1841) – altered; used as a school
  • Convent of Mercy, Liverpool (1841 – and from 1847) – demolished
  • Spechley school and schoolmaster’s house (1841) – intact, now a private house
  • Balliol College, Oxford, scheme (1843) – unexecuted
  • Ratcliffe College (1843) – partially executed; largely intact; in use
  • Liverpool Orphanage (1843) – demolished
  • Magdalen College School, Oxford, schemes (1843-4) – unexecuted
  • Convent of Mercy, Nottingham (1844) – altered; private flats
  • Mercy House and cloisters, Handsworth (1844-5) – cloisters intact; otherwise destroyed
  • Cotton College (1846) – derelict
  • St Anne’s Bedehouses, Lincoln, (1847) – intact; in use
  • Convent of the Good Shepherd, Hammersmith, London (1848) – demolished
  • Convent of St Joseph’s, Cheadle (1848) – largely intact; private house
  • King Edward's School, Birmingham (design of parts of interior) (1838) –

Major ecclesiastical designs

Railway cottages

Slightly less grand than the above are the railway cottages at Windermere railway station in Westmorland. Believed to date from 1849, and probably some of the first houses to be built in Windermere, the terrace of cottages was built for railway executives. A typical example is Old Codgers Cottage currently used as a holiday cottage. The owners have researched its history to find that it was inhabited by the head drayman for the railway company on the 1861 census. One of the fireplaces is a copy of one of his in the Palace of Westminster.[citation needed]

See also

References

  1. ^ Steve Meacham (4 February 2003). "A genius in his Gothic splendour". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 30 January 2006.
  2. ^ cf. Rosemary Hill (1995).
  3. ^ Feature in The Guardian.
  4. ^ Pugin Society website, Undated. Accessed 11-13-2007. [dead link]
  5. ^ Gregory's Angels, Gordon J. Beattie, Gracewing Publishing, 1997, p143. Accessed 11-13-2007.
  6. ^ "Cathedral tour — 9". Leeds Cathedral. Retrieved 31 January 2009.
  7. ^ "Restoring a masterpiece". BBC Leeds. Retrieved 31 January 2009.
  8. ^ Pevsner, Nikolaus; Cherry, Bridget (revision) (1961). The Buildings of England – Northamptonshire. London and New Haven: Yale University Press. p. 338. ISBN 978-0-300-09632-3. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

Sources

  • Brian Andrews, Creating a Gothic Paradise: Pugin at the Antipodes, Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart, 2001. Exhibition catalogue.
  • Michael Fisher, Alexandra Wedgwood, Pugin-Land: A W N Pugin, Lord Shrewsbury and the Gothic Revival in Staffordshire, Stafford Fisher, 2002.
  • Rachel Hasted, Scarisbrick Hall – A Guide, Social History at Lancashire County Museum Service, 1984.
  • Rosemary Hill, Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin: A Biographical Sketch, in A.W.N. Pugin: Master of Gothic Revival, Yale University Press, New Haven and London 1995.
  • Rosemary Hill. God's Architect: Pugin and the Building of Romantic Britain. Allen Lane, 2007. ISBN 978-0-7139-9499-5
  • A. Pugin and A.W. Pugin, Gothic Architecture selected from various Ancient Edifices in England, Vols. 1 and 2, J.R. Jansen, Carlton Building, Cleveland, OH, USA, 1927 (Published in five volumes between 1821 and 1838)

External links

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