Ardwina Event

8th June 2011

What a great event! Ardwina is a proper sailing barge with great facilities, a few bunks and 'heads', a well-equipped galley and an even better-equipped bar. The main room is fantastic for just this sort of architects' event: a beautifully-catered light lunch, a few(?) drinks and a lecture.

Moored at the Tower Hill end of St Katherine's Dock, the barge has fantastic views of the Tower of London.

First up, upon arrival, was Camel Valley Vineyard's Bacchus (great name for a grape variety!), one of our own English specialities. A dry, delicate white wine, like a light, Sauvignon Blanc with more elderflower and nettle, perfect for a summer's day with the sunshine and great conversation with our guests and fellow liverymen.

After a delicious fresh buffet lunch, with marvellous salads, meats and fruits, brilliantly prepared by one of our favourite caterers, the real fun began.

We were treated to a marvellous talk by Adrian Barlow, Director of Public and Professional Programmes at Cambridge Institute of Continuing Education, and a modern polymath. Perhaps best known in the non-architectural world for his expertise in English Literature and Arts in general, Adrian is most-recognised by us architects as one of the few true experts in the art of Stained Glass. His topic: Charles Eamer Kempe (1878-1887) and his work as an interior architect, stained glass designer and producer.

Adrian gave us excellent biographical details, including Kempe's early upbringing at Ovingdean Hall, near Brighton, and his education at Rugby and Pembroke College, Oxford (must declare an interest here, as the latter was also my husband's College, more than a century later, hence the photo of the Chapel quad.)

Kempe's original plan was to become a clergyman, but his severe speech

impediment led him to take an apprenticeship with his friend, Charles

Frederick Bodley, an architect.

Kempe, though, saw Interior Design and Church Decoration as a serious

profession. Thus he decided to spread the Christian message through

design of stained glass.

So, he joined Clayton and Bell and made his first masterwork, Gloucester Cathedral's

Bishop Hooper window, still in situ.

Kempe was enamored of 15th century Gothic windows and began to imitate them.

The St Leonard window shows Kempe's early technique, quite plain and simple.

This later section of St Dorothy shows much more

detail and texture in the rendering.

According to Adrian, Kempe was a 'purist', who tried to mitigate the 'silver-staining' techniques, which cause damage, lose colour and definition (see above St Leonard!), and don't survive. So Kempe began to work in other techniques that held colour better. That said, much of his work is in the 'grissaille' style (see above St Dorothy), where definition is better and more leading evident.

After 1869 Kempe used wheatsheaf as an emblem often with fleur de lis or leaves. Foliage and

vines, as at St Michael's, Cuckfield, (below) and dragons are some of Kempe's trademarks and so is armour. The portable organ is often another way to recognise a Kempe window.

Kempe was a technician and was always keen to be careful of the design of the tracery, often positioning supporting 'saddle' bars and tie-wires on the outsides of windows to 'blunt' the horizontal lines and not obstruct the faces too much. Of course, there was the issue of corrosion...leads do fail even in a mere (?) 100 years!

As the 'master' of his atelier, some 50 people at its height, Kempe was certainly a master of his chosen art, but he was also a collaborator, with such as John Lisle at Burgess Hill.

Kempe worked with many Royals, including on the mausoleum of Prince Fritz in 1884.

Amoung his stained glass works are:

St Wulfran, Ovingdean, Sussex, 1869

St Ethelburgh, Bishopsgate, London 1871

St Mary, Folkestone, 1873-1877

St Tyrnog, Llandryrnog, Clwyd, 1877

St Mary's Cathedral, Edinburgh, 1878

St Bridget, West Kirby, Cheshire, 1878

Gloucester Cathedral, 1878-1887

St Congar, Badgeworth, Somerset, 1879

St Peter, Heswall, Cheshire, 1881

St Mary's, Monmouth, Gwent, 1882

All Saints, York, 1887

St John the Baptist, Burford, Oxfordshire, 1887-1907

St Mary's, Eastham, Cheshire, 1889-1903

Holy Trinity, Stirling, Scotland, 1890-1906

Lichfield Cathedral, 1894-1904

Eton College Lower Chapel, 1895-1897

Southwark Cathedral, London, 1895-1907

Winchester Cathedral, 1897-1900

St David, Exeter, Devon, 1900-1902

Malvern College, Herefordshire, 1902-1906

St Hilda's, Whitby, Yorkshire, 1902-1906

Maybe we should go and check them out.

In any case, a good day was had by all!