Imagery in St Magnus

This rather large image of the Vernicle is found in the Lady Chapel at St Magnus. I can't think of many churches that have one of these. Nearby is the Travers statue of Our Lady of Walsingham. Fr Fynes-Clinton was one of the most prominent supporters of the shrine in its early days.

AGM Time

It will soon be time for the Society’s Annual General Meeting. This will take place at St Magnus the Martyr, Lower Thames Street, London EC3R 6DN. The church is only a few yards from Monument Tube Station.

The meeting will commence at 7pm, and will be followed by a lecture at 7.30pm on Anglo-Catholicism and the Arts, 1918-1970. The speaker will be Dr Peter Webster, the editorial controller of British History Online. This will be followed by drinks and the opportunity to socialise.

Travers’s statue of St Magnus sports rather a fine pair of horns and a smart red cloak.

Some thoughts on this church

Many people have heard of St Magnus through the line in T.S.Eliot’s Waste Land referring to the “inexplicable splendour of Ionian white and gold.” I have always assumed this refers to the Travers refurnishing of the church, rather than Wren’s architecture. but have never felt moved to check, since I developed an extreme aversion to the works of Mr Eliot when I was doing my A Levels. In fact the poem predates the Travers restoration by a couple of years, and this made me speculate as to what the church was like before the Fynes-Clinton incumbency. It seems that it had a very conventional interior, since G.B.Besant wrote in his City Churches and their Memories (1926) 'As to the interior of St. Magnus, up to a year ago it was worth visiting. Spacious and severe - rather bare, as a matter of fact - with high pews and a three-decker pulpit, it was thoroughly representative of the architect and the period. But now all has changed. The three-decker pulpit and high pews are gone by the board. In the place of the one simple altar there are now three, with candles to burn, and a heavy smell of incense, all in the Roman manner - hopelessly and absolutely out of keeping. That is how it strikes me.'

The church has long been considered to be the most ultramontane place of worship in the City of London. Fr Fynes-Clinton certainly used Latin for some devotions, although I am a little unclear whether he used it at Mass. It would have been rather hard to tell anyway in the days of the silent canon. There are various stories told of outraged Protestants coming to view the grave of Miles Coverdale and being told by the then incumbent that they had just finished a service in the language out of which Coverdale translated the Bible. As an aside, there are various stories of Bishop Coverdale haunting the church: it would be interesting to know what the poor ghost thinks of it, because it certainly bears little resemblance to Exeter Cathedral in the 1550s. Moving forward 450 years, I understand that this church has restored the use of the humeral veil at High Mass. Is it the first Anglican parish to do so since the Tridentine rite has been rehabilitated in the Roman Church? Maybe somebody would confirm or deny?

Here is a link to the church’s website http://www.stmagnusmartyr.org.uk/

John Hawes

ACHS May Newsletter

This is the first attempt to create a web presence for the Anglo-Catholic History Society, which I hope will eventually develop into a website. Here is the latest newsletter which gives a flavour of spme of the events planned for the coming months.

Dear All,

Michael Farrer, as you all know, has now had a prolonged period of ill health and has decided that he cannot continue as Secretary of the Society beyond the AGM. We all owe him a great debt of thanks for his original foresight and for his hard work since the Society has been running. On a brighter note, Michael was well enough to attend a Committee meeting recently and we were of course delighted by that. In the meantime George Skelly and I between us are fulfilling his duties.

The February lecture given by Father Robert Beaken on Archbishop Lang has now been printed and you will find a copy enclosed. Further copies are available at £3.00 post free from George Skelly at 24 Cloudesley Square, London N1 0HN.

The next meeting of the Society is on Monday 2nd June 2008 at St. Magnus the Martyr, London Bridge. The AGM will be at 7 pm, and will be followed at 7.30 pm by a talk by Dr. Peter Webster, the editorial controller of British History Online, entitled Anglo-Catholicism and the Arts 1918-70. This promises to be an interesting and novel subject and hopefully there will be a good turn out for it and for the AGM before.
With regard to the AGM, a copy of the Agenda is enclosed together with the Treasurer’s Report for 2007.

The autumn lecture will be on Monday 20th October 2008 when Hilary Williams will talk on Anglo-Catholic hymnody.

The annual coach trip will be on Saturday 19th July 2008. I am still finalising details of this but we are certainly visiting the Society of the Precious Blood at Burnham, All Saints, Ascot and All Saints, Boyne Hill, Maidenhead. I have just got permission to visit the graveyard of the Benedictines at Nashdom, which is now of course residential accommodation. Further places are under negotiation.

Two new initiatives were discussed at the Committee meeting. John Hawes, who joined the Committee last year, is working on a website which will enable information to be exchanged and details to be posted. I hope that those who are researching will be able to use it, or this newsletter, to request details as I did last time: thank you for those who replied.

The question of a church crawl in London was also raised: this would be one Saturday in the autumn, and would be walking rather than by coach. Again, further details will be given when I have worked some details out, but it should be another interesting event.

The Society does have funds available to assist students who are working on aspects of Anglo-Catholic history and are in need of financial assistance and if anyone knows someone in that category please get in touch with us.

Two information sheets are enclosed. Father John Salter has published two small books and the order form herewith gives full details. Father Robert Beaken has asked us to publicise the proposed Hour of Prayer on July 14th in remembrance of the 175th Anniversary of Keble’s Assize sermon which is regarded as marking the beginning of the Tractarian revival in the 19th Century.

Having complained in the past that there were no manuscripts for publication, a number of developments have taken place. The republication of Father Trevor Jones’ moving and informative biography of Father Wilson of Haggerston is now available and an order sheet is enclosed. Once again, we offer this at a reduced price to members. A manuscript on Ritualism in Liverpool is in preparation as is one on the architect Ernest Shearman. We are also looking at other work.

Finally, here is a really obscure query. In the early years of the last century it was the fashion to take an additional name on ordination: Ronald Knox took the name Hilary, and Maurice Child (typically) took 4 extra names (Charles Francis Hugh Dominic). Canon Freddie Hood in his obituary of Child says one priest took the names Marie Immaculée. Does anyone know who that was?

With best wishes to all

Michael Yelton