For the episode transcript see http://www.abc.net.au/compass/s3510122.htm
For the Pugin churches see http://ausmed.arts.uwa.edu.au/items/show/1104
http://ausmed.arts.uwa.edu.au/items/show/951
http://ausmed.arts.uwa.edu.au/items/show/1117
http://ausmed.arts.uwa.edu.au/items/show/1119
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‘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 200th 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.
For the episode transcript see http://www.abc.net.au/compass/s3510122.htm
For the Pugin churches see http://ausmed.arts.uwa.edu.au/items/show/1104
http://ausmed.arts.uwa.edu.au/items/show/951
http://ausmed.arts.uwa.edu.au/items/show/1117
http://ausmed.arts.uwa.edu.au/items/show/1119
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.
St Patrick (c. 387 - c. 460) was an early medieval British missionary who worked in northern Ireland and is now Ireland’s patron saint.
For an essay on the church by Brian Andrews see http://www.puginfoundation.org/assets/Colebrook_Essay.pdf
]]>St Patrick’s Catholic Church is in the village of Colebrook, Tasmania. The sandstone building was built in 1855-7 under the supervision of architect Frederick Thomas from 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. The building is in the Gothic Revival style with pointed arch doorways, buttresses, tracery, porch, and lancet windows. A noticeable feature is the triple bellcote which was reinstated in 2007 after falling in a storm in 1895. The elaborate balustrade was not part of Pugin’s design and was added by Thomas due to the sloping site. St Patrick’s represents Pugin’s idea of an early fourteenth century English village church.
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.
St Patrick (c. 387 - c. 460) was an early medieval British missionary who worked in northern Ireland and is now Ireland’s patron saint.
For an essay on the church by Brian Andrews see http://www.puginfoundation.org/assets/Colebrook_Essay.pdf