st james bristol
Left, a sound building once again. Thanks to the combined efforts of specialist conservators, the future of ancient St James’s is secure. Below, finishing touches in the interior. Bottom, the tomb of eminent Tudor Bristolian Sir Charles Somerset, who died in 1598 at the age of 64. Facing Sir Charles is his wife, Emma, who died in 1590, and a daughter, whose name is not known
it also served as the parish church of his Horsefair Community to which in the early days of his time in Bristol Wesley brought his congregation for Holy Communion. Prayer meetings were held in the Jacobean splendour of the church house next door. Wesley’s children were baptised here, and five of them lie buried in the churchyard.
CHURCH houses survive all over the country, as they played an important economic role as breweries for church ales and other celebrations. Many evolved into pubs, and as they funded the construction of many medieval churches, they often have older origins than their crenellated neighbours. Inside the church house at St James, we had been working on a particularly fine panelled room where Christina and Nell have repaired the sagging, coffered, pomegranate- laden strapwork ceiling which dates from the Jacobean period. In the corner of the room, is a fireplace and
overmantel consisting of Doric entablature beneath a central cartouche with helm and rocaille. The uniform and camouflaging modern, brown-painted finish meant that I had hardly noticed the overmantle was balanced on either side by a limestone caryatid. Paint conservation carried out by Peter
Martindale to remove modern brown paint has revealed them to be a lush pair of rouged, Cornucopia-clutching, 17th-century, overpainted ladies, one of whom was bare-
chested.And Peter’s work has also exposed the lengths that past incumbents went to protect their modesty. Prayer meetings were, and still are, held in
the room, and the uncovered lady must have proved quite a distraction, as not only was her exposed bosom later decorated with a rather low-cut piece of underwear – a specially whittled lead cuirass was affixed to her shoulders and had remained there for many years unnoticed. Could Wesley have had a hand in covering her up? Thanks to the efforts of Sue Jotcham’s team,
English Heritage and the architects Acanthus Ferguson Mann, St James is saved. I think all involved are proud that the St James Priory project now has a secure future and will continue to offer support to people dealing with the problems of homelessness and drug and alcohol dependency. It was good to be working again with main contractors, CS Williams of Taunton, and some old friends at Nimbus Conservation who carried out stone repairs at the church.
The writer is a partner in Minerva Conservation, and a former SPABWilliamMorris Craft Fellow.
Cornerstone, Vol 32, No 3 2011 71
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