‘Tasmanian Gothic’, Compass, ABC TV
ABC, alter cloths, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, baptismal font, Wendy Boynton, Catholic, chalice linen, church, Colebrook, Compass, cross, Geraldine Doogue, Gothic, Gothic Revival, headstone, monstrance, Oatlands, Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin, Pugin, Richmond, rood screen, Tas, Tasmania, Tasmanian Gothic, television, transcript, vestment, website, Bishop Willson, Robert William Willson.
<p>‘Tasmanian Gothic’ was an episode of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s Compass television programme presented by Geraldine Doogue. The story was researched by Wendy Boynton and aired on June 24, 2012 to celebrate the 200<sup>th</sup> anniversary of the birth of English architect and designer Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin (1812-1852), one of the main instigators of the Gothic Revival. Although he never visited Australia some consider the best examples of Pugin’s work to be in Tasmania, in part due to their preservation. When his friend Robert William Willson (1794-1866) was chosen as Tasmania’s first Catholic Bishop, Pugin provided him with the materials necessary to establish his diocese. These items, including scale models for three churches, were taken by Willson by ship from England to Hobart in 1844. Pugin artefacts in Tasmania include alter cloths, baptismal fonts, chalice linens, crosses, rood screens, headstones, vestments, and a monstrance (a vessel to hold the communion host, first used in the medieval period), the churches at Oatlands and Colebrook, and elements of the church at Richmond. The programme also deals with Pugin’s lasting legacy, including the enduring notion that Gothic style architecture is the most appropriate for ecclesiastical architecture. </p>
<p>For the episode transcript see <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/compass/s3510122.htm">http://www.abc.net.au/compass/s3510122.htm</a></p>
<p>For the Pugin churches see <a href="http://ausmed.arts.uwa.edu.au/items/show/1104">http://ausmed.arts.uwa.edu.au/items/show/1104</a></p>
<p><a href="http://ausmed.arts.uwa.edu.au/items/show/951">http://ausmed.arts.uwa.edu.au/items/show/951</a></p>
<p><a href="http://ausmed.arts.uwa.edu.au/items/show/1117">http://ausmed.arts.uwa.edu.au/items/show/1117</a></p>
<p><a href="http://ausmed.arts.uwa.edu.au/items/show/1119">http://ausmed.arts.uwa.edu.au/items/show/1119</a></p>
<p> </p>
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Australian Broadcasting Corporation
June 24, 2012
Boynton, Wendy (researcher)
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
<a href="http://ausmed.arts.uwa.edu.au/items/show/1104">http://ausmed.arts.uwa.edu.au/items/show/1104</a>
<p><a href="http://ausmed.arts.uwa.edu.au/items/show/951">http://ausmed.arts.uwa.edu.au/items/show/951</a></p>
<p><a href="http://ausmed.arts.uwa.edu.au/items/show/1117">http://ausmed.arts.uwa.edu.au/items/show/1117</a></p>
<p><a href="http://ausmed.arts.uwa.edu.au/items/show/1119">http://ausmed.arts.uwa.edu.au/items/show/1119</a></p>
Hyperlink
Norman baptismal font, St Mary’s Cathedral, Hobart, Tasmania
Arch, baptismal font, Catholic, column, font, Hobart, Norman, Norman font, Romanesque, St Mary’s Cathedral, Tas, Tasmania, Robert William Willson, Bishop Willson.
<p>Repair work on St Mary’s Catholic Cathedral, Hobart, in 2008 brought to light the possibility that a baptismal font in the Cathedral may be from the medieval Norman period. The cylindrical font has elaborately carved columns and Romanesque arches. The Romanesque style was popular in Normandy and was introduced to England following the Norman conquest in 1066. It is thought that the font was brought to Hobart from England by Tasmania’s first Catholic bishop, Robert William Willson (1794-1866) in 1844. When the antiquity of the font was first discovered, the Cathedral administrator told ABC News in 2008 that it may date<br />back to the ninth century, but as Normandy was not formally established until 911 this is unlikely. More recently it has been suggested that the font comes<br />from the Norman period in England and is dated c. 1066-1200. Research into the font is continuing.</p>
<p>The baptismal font is a rare example of the Australian<br />public’s practical use of, and interaction with, an actual medieval item for many generations.</p>
<p>For the original dating see <a href="http://www.cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=7424">http://www.cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=7424</a>.</p>
<p>For the revised dating see <a href="http://hobart.catholic.org.au/history/st-marys-cathedral">http://hobart.catholic.org.au/history/st-marys-cathedral</a></p>
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McLeod, Shane
October 6, 2012
No Copyright
Digital Photograph
St David’s Cathedral baptismal font, Hobart, Tasmania
Anglican, baptismal font, blind arcading, George Frederick Bodley, font, Gothic, Gothic Revival, Hobart, pointed arch, St David’s Cathedral, Tas, Tasmania, tracery.
<p>The baptismal font in St David’s Cathedral, Hobart, was made by local craftsmen to the design of English architect George Frederick Bodley (1827-1907). The cathedral was designed in 1865 by Bodley. Like the cathedral, the baptismal font is in the Gothic Revival style, particularly the blind arcading design of the font’s base featuring tracery and pointed arches.</p>
<p>For the cathedral tower see <a href="http://ausmed.arts.uwa.edu.au/items/show/1145">http://ausmed.arts.uwa.edu.au/items/show/1145</a></p>
<p>For the interior see <a href="http://ausmed.arts.uwa.edu.au/items/show/1198">http://ausmed.arts.uwa.edu.au/items/show/1198</a></p>
<p> </p>
McLeod, Shane
October 6, 2012
No Copyright
<p><a href="http://ausmed.arts.uwa.edu.au/items/show/1145">http://ausmed.arts.uwa.edu.au/items/show/1145</a></p>
<p><a href="http://ausmed.arts.uwa.edu.au/items/show/1198">http://ausmed.arts.uwa.edu.au/items/show/1198</a></p>
Digital Photograph
St John the Evangelist’s Church interior, Richmond, Tasmania
Brian Andrews, baptismal font, Catholic, font, Henry Edmund Goodridge, Gothic, Gothic Revival, lancet windows, John Bede Polding, pointed arch, Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin, Pugin, Richmond, St John the Evangelist’s Church, Tas, Tasmania, Frederick Thomas, tiles, tracery, Robert William Willson, Bishop Willson.
<p>St John the Evangelist’s Church is in the village of Richmond, Tasmania, and is the oldest continuously used Catholic church in Australia. The present building is an amalgam of two designs. The earliest building was designed by the English (Bath) architect Henry Edmund Goodbridge (1800-1863) after John Bede Polding (1794-1877), Australia’s first Catholic bishop, obtained plans for several churches from Goodbridge before sailing to Australia in 1835. Polding laid the foundation stone in 1835 and the church was completed in 1837. The nave of the present building is from the original church. In 1859 additions were completed under the supervision of architect Frederick Thomas (1817-1885) from a parts of a detailed scale model made by the English architect Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin (1812-1852) in 1843. The model was made for Pugin’s friend Robert William Willson (1794-1866) who was the first Catholic Bishop in Tasmania. From Pugin’s design come the chancel (including the rear stained glass window with tracery seen in photograph two), sacristy and spire. Thomas designed the communion rails as the rood screen in Pugin’s model was too large for the building, as well as the pointed chancel arch. The interior also includes a font designed by Pugin in 1843. It was carved in England and brought to Tasmania by Bishop Wilson, and sits atop a platform of simple medieval-style tiles. </p>
<p>Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin (1812-1852) played a central role in establishing the Gothic Revival style and is best remembered for his work on the Houses of Parliament in London, and the interior of the Palace of Westminster.</p>
<p>For the exterior see <a href="http://ausmed.arts.uwa.edu.au/admin/items/show/1117" target="_self">http://ausmed.arts.uwa.edu.au/items/show/1117</a></p>
<p>For an essay on the church by Brian Andrews see <a href="http://www.puginfoundation.org/assets/Richmond_Essay.pdf" target="_self">http://www.puginfoundation.org/assets/Richmond_Essay.pdf</a></p>
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McLeod, Shane (essay by Brian Andrews)
October 5, 2012
No Copyright (essay copyright Brian Andrews and the Pugin Foundation)
<a href="http://ausmed.arts.uwa.edu.au/admin/items/show/1117">http://ausmed.arts.uwa.edu.au/items/show/1117</a>
2xDigital Photograph