The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 13, No. 386, August 22, 1829
Various
Various
The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction / Volume 13, No. 386, August 22, 1829
ST. PETER'S CHURCH, PIMLICO
The engraving represents the new church on the eastern side of Wilton Place, in the Parish of St. George, Hanover Square. It is a chaste building of the Ionic order, from the designs of Mr. Henry Hakewill, of whose architectural attainments we have frequently had occasion to speak.
The plan of St. Peter's is a parallelogram, placed east and west, without aisles; the east being increased by the addition of a small chancel flanked by vestries. The west front, in our Engraving, is occupied by an hexastyle portico of the Ionic order, with fluted columns. The floor is approached by a bold flight of steps, and in the wall, at the back are three entrances to the church. The columns are surmounted by their entablature and a pediment, behind which a low attic rises from the roof of the church to the height of the apex of the pediment; it is crowned with a cornice and blocking-course, and surmounted by an acroterium of nearly its own height, but in breadth only equalling two-thirds of it; this is finished with a sub-cornice and blocking-course, and is surmounted by the tower, which rises from the middle. The addition of a steeple to a Grecian church forms a stumbling-block to our modern architects, forcing them to have recourse to many shifts to convert a Grecian temple into an English church, a forcible argument for the rejection of the classical styles altogether in this species of buildings. [1 - See Gentlemen's Magazine, April, 1829.] Mr. Hakewill has, however, in part surmounted this difficulty, and the effect produced is not bad, as great value is given to the front elevation by it.
The tower consists of a square in plan, in elevation consisting of a pedestal, the dado pieced for the dials of a clock, sustaining a cubical story, with an arched window in each face, at the sides of which are Ionic columns, the angles being finished in antis. This story is crowned with an entablature, above which rises a small enriched circular temple; the whole is crowned with a spherical dome, surmounted by a cross.
The body of the church is built of brick, with stone dressings. The interior is chastely fitted up. The altarpiece is Mr. Hilton's splendid picture of "Christ crowned with thorns," exhibited at Somerset House, in 1825, and presented to this church by the British Institution in 1827.
The ground for the site was given by Lord Grosvenor, and the sum of 5,555l. 11s. 1d. was granted by the Royal Commissioners towards the building. It will accommodate 1,657 persons. The first stone was laid September 4, 1824, and the church was consecrated by the Bishop of London, (Dr. Howley,) July 20, 1827.
PSALMODY
(To the Editor of the Mirror.)
I have lately made a journey to the metropolis for the purpose of inquiring by my own personal attention and otherwise, whether any improvement had been made in the Psalmody of any of the numerous new churches and chapels in and near London. I have visited by far the greater part of them. In many of them I find no improvement, but there are two or three which merit distinction.
In the majority of the churches, I observe the singing of psalms or hymns (for I have not yet, after three months, heard an anthem) is confined generally to about three verses, and those more ordinarily of the common metre; the singing is very little of it congregational, but is chiefly performed by the schools of charity children, and there does not appear to have been any instruction for their singing in any other than the treble. The organists in general are very good performers, but, however well that office is filled, the voices of the congregation are wanting, by which a great improvement would be given to the harmony. In two of the congregations I happen to have a more numerous acquaintance, and know that numbers of the congregation have excellent judgment and good voices, and many are good per