FRIENDS of ARUNDEL CATHEDRAL
CORNERSTONE Summer 2019
Canon Tim Madeley BTh; ordained April 1994; Silver Jubilee April 2019; appointed Dean of Arundel Cathedral Parish 2005; Chapter of Canons 2008; Knight of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre, pictured in the robes of the Order.
Dear Friends In the last issue of Cornerstone we showed images of the work then under way on the great Rose Window at the West end of the Cathedral. Inside there was a framework of scaffolding and blank spaces where the window glass had been removed; outside workers in yellow jackets could be seen high up chiseling away at the stonework. All that has now been completed, and the windows look as fresh as when Duke Henry and Joseph Hansom saw them delivered from the Hardman & Powell workshops in Birmingham, and installed in their newly built church. The tradition of rose windows goes back to before the Gothic period, probably derived from the circular oculus window of Roman architecture, and became an almost obligatory feature in the design of great cathedrals. Indeed the survival of the huge north-transept rose window of Notre Dame has been one of the most heartening consolations in the wake of that terrible fire. In the case of Arundel no such catastrophe was involved, but after almost one hundred and fifty years in the wind and rain the lead and iron framework for the coloured glass was sagging, and reconstruction was essential. Support for this kind of maintenance is at the heart of The Friends’ mission, and Council-member Margaret Bamford writes about the project on pages 2 and 3. Your editor, who finds himself increasingly uneasy on high platforms, was delighted to find that Graham Smithson had ventured to the topmost levels and photographed the work in progress, and it is his images of details that illustrate this issue. We take this opportunity to congratulate Canon Tim on the Silver Jubilee of his ordination, thanking him most warmly for having spent over half his years as a priest serving this Cathedral parish, and we include a note on the Order of the Holy Sepulchre, to which he belongs. Oliver Hawkins Editor
THE ROSE WINDOW RESTORED Reflections by Margaret Bamford The tragedy at Notre Dame has brought home to us all, especially in this Diocese, how much we cherish our beautiful Church buildings. They are proud symbols of our faith and unity. Our Diocese is blessed with our own magnificent Cathedral, standing proudly above the Sussex countryside commanding views for up the Arun valley and down to the South Coast. It can be seen for miles around. It is the centre from which our Bishop brings his people together to preach. Anyone who has attended any of the major ceremonial masses cannot but have failed to have been deeply moved by the extent to which the beauty of the building enhanced the spirituality of the occasion. It is hardly surprising that pilgrims from all over the world visit to pray there. But like all buildings they need to be maintained. The older and bigger they are the more important and more costly it becomes. The need is constant. The Friends of Arundel Cathedral have supported a number of essential refurbishment projects; the latest being a contribution of £200,000 to the restoration of the Rose window. Based on the 15 holy mysteries of the Rosary this window is a classically beautiful feature of the Western façade casting late afternoon sunshine over the organ and down into the length of the nave blessing those praying below. The window was designed by the leading specialist of the time Joseph Hardman Powell in the mid 19th Century - during the Gothic style revival of Christian church design. The Cathedral and its windows have been described as one of the finest in Britain. But glass does not last for ever nor does the lead supporting it. As Jack Clare, a Director of Holy Well Glass -the specialist company undertaking the repairs - explains, ‘Restoring both the glass and the lead was a delicate and time consuming task…. the lead was critically embrittled and urgently needed to be repaired. Where possible this was conserved, but large areas of the rose have been re-leaded to ensure its stability for generations to come... The kiln fired painted detail was also in a weak condition. The cleaning of the glass required careful monitoring under binocular microscopes to ensure this imagery was not lost forever. The decision was also made to attach hand painted plates to areas suffering from critical loss to reinforce the imagery within the window’. This project is the third major expenditure which the Friends have undertaken in the last ten years, the others being the replacement of the fleche (spire) that crowns the crossing, which was found to be in a very dangerous state, and the refurbishment and modernisation of the Cathedral Centre to enable it to give much greater support to the work and ministry of the Cathedral
The work is now complete and the scaffolding has now been removed. Bishop Richard has personally inspected the work and congratulated the renovators on the quality of their work. He commended their patience and skill in braving the elements high up in the rafters of the building. The Friends can only continue to support such important initiatives with the support of everyone in the Diocese. To find out more about what we do please contact Lindsey Stratford, The Friends’ Office, Cathedral House Parsons Hill, Arundel, BN18 9AY; Tel 01903 884 567; email aruncathfriends@btconnect.com
Detail from the Rose Window
Detail from the Rose Window
KNIGHTLY ORDERS One of the many attractions of Arundel’s Corpus Christi celebration is the procession of elegantly robed Knights and Dames of the various Catholic knightly orders. The Knights of Malta, formally the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta, distinguished by the whiteon-black Maltese Cross, always make up a substantial part of the procession The Order exemplifies unbroken tradition over one thousand years, while occasionally bowing to the spirit of the age in such details as sweatshirts bearing the Maltese Cross sometimes worn by younger members of the group. Those processing at Corpus Christi are members of the Catholic branch, the Order having split into Catholic and Anglican branches as a consequence of the Reformation. Though separate the two branches collaborate in a number of areas. Fr Mark Elvins, whom many Friends will remember, was instrumental in securing the Orders’ support for St Wilfrid’s Priory, the care home situated in the Castle grounds alongside the Fitzalan Chapel in Arundel. The other prominent group, with the distinctive red cross of Jerusalem, is made up of the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre, formally titled the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, the order to which both Bishop Richard and Canon Tim belong. This order of knighthood, under the protection of the Holy See and with the Pope as its Sovereign, was founded at the time of the First Crusade in the late eleventh century under the Frankish Duke Godfrey de Bouillon, ‘Defender of the Holy Sepulchre’. In its early days members were committed to the Augustinian Rule of poverty and obedience, and their principal role was to defend the Holy Sepulchre and other holy places. Still today the Order’s primary mission is to support the Christian presence in the Holy Land, perhaps as great a challenge today as at any time since the days of the Crusades. The very wide range of current projects includes support for seminaries, churches, schools and kindergartens in Jordan, Israel and Gaza, as well as well as such emergency projects as alleviating the crisis of Iraqi refugees in Jordan. A KNIGHT TO THE RESCUE The Order has at present some 30,000 Knights and Dames, in sixty lieutenances around the world, with headquarters in the Palazzo Della Rovere in Rome. Like Bishop Richard and Canon Tim, members have their full-time jobs; it was a Knight of the Order, Fr Jean-Marc Fournier, chaplain to the Paris pompiers, who entered the still burning Notre Dame to rescue the Crown of Thorns and the Holy Sacrament. Asked why he had taken such a risk to save inanimate objects he explained: ‘We sometimes mock Saint Thomas who wanted to touch Christ’s wounds left by the nails, but in certain circumstances, we need tangible signs of faith.’ It could be argued that in less dramatic fashion the procession of Knights and Dames through the streets of Arundel provides precisely that tangible sign of faith.
The red Cross of Jerusalem, symbol of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre, as displayed in the 2015 Carpet of Flowers.
Detail from the Rose Window
The Cathedral has another, smaller rose – or ‘wheel’ – window on the south transept wall behind the altar of St Philip Neri, above the magnificent stained glass scenes representing the life of the saint. The twelve segments of the window represent the twelve fruits of the Holy Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, forbearance, mildness, faith, modesty, self-control and chastity.
The Friends of Arundel Cathedral registered as a company Limited by guarantee and not having a share capital (No 3792834) Registered Charity No 1078149 The Friends’ Office, Cathedral House, Parsons Hill, Arundel, West Sussex BN18 9AY Telephone: 01903 884567, Email: aruncathfriends@btconnect.com