CD Celebrating St Alphege

05 February 2008

A parish Church hidden away in a suburb of Bath is one of the most remarkable buildings, not only in the Clifton Diocese, but arguably, in the country.  Already featured in the English Heritage book ‘A Glimpse of Heaven’, St Alphege in Oldfield Park is now the subject of a painstakingly researched guide.

St Alphege is the fruit of acclaimed architect Sir Giles Gilbert Scott’s imagination, talent and skill.  Well-known for his work on Liverpool’s Anglican Cathedral and Battersea Power Station, Scott is said to have stated, “St Alphege was my first essay into the Romanesque style of architecture. It has always been one of my favourite works.”

Now a new guide of St Alphege has been produced.  It’s available on CD with an outline online.  It contains many specially commissioned photographs – a selection of which we have included in the images panel on the right.

Mike Dummer is the enthusiastic author of the guide, celebrating this gem of a church.  Mike told cliftondiocese.com, “Scott’s affection is easy to understand.  He had been inspired by the large ancient church of St Maria in Cosmedin, Rome, and had successfully distilled its main elements into the much smaller parish church tucked away at the end of the long rows of Edwardian terrace houses in Bath.   It has been described as “a gem”, “charming”, “totally unexpected”; and “it cannot fail to delight”.  The capitals of the columns are carved with scenes from the lives of Our Lady and of St Alphege – fifty in all.   Among the carvings is one of Scott himself – perhaps the only representation of the architect in stone.”

Although it was opened in 1929, St Alphege was not consecrated until 1954 when the building was completed.  The church was dedicated to the Bath-born Abbott of Bath, Bishop of Winchester and Archbishop of Canterbury who was martyred by the Danes for refusing to let the poor citizens of Canterbury raise a ransom for his release from captivity.

Mike added, “What is surprising is the lack of knowledge of the church’s existence.  The thousands who flock to Bath to see its architecture don’t know of it.  Within its own city, many Bathonians have never heard of St Alphege, and fewer still know how to get to it! 

“Pevsner missed it when he compiled his ‘Buildings of Britain’ series in the 1950s, an omission now recently corrected in the ‘Pevsner City’ series. Most articles on Scott do not include it in their list of his works – and we have just updated Wikipedia.”

Mike has also produced a new website giving details about the church, as well as the CD guide telling the story of the church and illustrated with over 100 photographs.  The CD can be viewed on computer or printed out as a colourful 42 page book.

The new guide has received media interest from the Bath Chronicle, BBC Bristol Online and BBC Radio Bristol’s ‘Sunday Starts’. 

cliftondiocese.com went to St Alphege to find out more - speaking with Mike, Parish Priest Canon Michael English and others.  You can download and listen to our podcast in the multimedia panel on the right.

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