William Wardell

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William Wilkinson Wardell 1824 - 1899

ASN Co Building , The Rocks, Sydney. Today Wardell's architecture (centre) is an integrated part of Australia's two principal cities

William Wilkinson Wardell (3 March 1824 – 19 November 1899) was an architect, notable not only for his work in Australia, the country to which he emigrated in 1858, but also for having a successful career as an ecclesiastical architect in England before his departure.

In Australia, Wardell designed many public buildings. Most notably St Patrick's Cathedral, in Melbourne, Government House, and St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney. He worked in both the Gothic and classical styles. Wardell not only constructed major works in the public sector he also maintained a large private practice building houses and business premises for private individuals. He was Director-General of public works in Melbourne from 1861 until 1878. As an architect he is often compared with his friend and English counterpart Augustus Pugin.

[edit] Early life in London

A a young man he studied under the Gothic architect Augustus Pugin, Pugin became his friend and mentor, and was to inspire him not only in architecture but also in his religious convictions. Mixed in the artistic and literary circles of London he fell in with the philosophies of the Oxford and Cambridge movement, which taught amongst other things that Gothic architecture, as symbolized by the great medieval cathedrals of England was the only form of architecture, not only worthy of God, but provided fostered a spirituality that mad it easier to communicate with God. In 1843 Wardell made the then conventionally unusual decision to convert from Anglicanism to Roman Catholicism, adopting the motto "Inveni Quod Quaesivi"( "I have found that which I sought"). This would have been a very difficult decision to make at the time, while Catholics were not actively persecuted in Britain at the time, there was still open discrimination against the faith in certain political and business quarters. The leader of the Oxford movement John Henry Newman did not himself make the leap of faith until 1845.

Wardell's conversion to the Roman Catholic faith was the result of a period of deep internal reflection^[1] This affiliation to a more high church ritual was manifested in his architectural interests which concentrated on the more Gothic designs of England's medieval architecture. For the remainder of his life he saw architecture as a means of praising God.^[2] He always had a room in his home set aside as a chapel for personal devotion which he visited several times during the course of a day.^[3] Dominating this room was an ancient carved wooden French cross, now belonging to the Melbourne Diocesan Historical Commission, who also own several other mementos of his persona devotion.^[4] Wardell also wrote, in particular two prayers devoted to the Virgin Mary, who he seems to have regarded as his especial saint.^[5] It is known that he frequently prayed for help and guidance when working on plans of church buildings.^[6]

On 7 October 1847 Wardell married Lucy Ann Butler, the daughter of William Henry Butler, a wine merchant and one time Mayor of Oxford. The couple married at St Mary's Catholic Church, Moorfields^[7] and are known to have had at least two sons and one daughter.

By the time of his marriage aged 23, he was already a successful architect. Between 1846 and 1858 he designed over 30 churches in England, at the rate of over two a year this a a phenomenal output. As this was an era of massive church restoration (Nikolaus Pevsner has said many churches were "over-restored" during this time) it is possible that this high figure may include churches Wardell only redesigned or restored. Whatever the true number of churches he designed in England, this was a period not only of church restoration but also building of many new Roman Catholic Churches. Wardell and John newman were by no means the only converts to Catholicism, a large number of notable intellectuals too changed their faith, this coupled with the greater freedom Catholics obtained by the Catholic Emancipation Act which restored the hierarchy and removed some of the prohibitions on Catholics which had prevailed since the time of the reformation led to the Catholic Church having a revival in Britain. Thus the newly converted Pugin and his protegè Wardell were well placed to receive the numerous commissions which came flooding in.

By 1858, aged 35 Wardell was in poor health, and felt that the warmer climate of Australia would be more beneficial to his health.^[8] Obtaining the position of "Government Architect" to the city of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia, Wardell and his family emigrated.

Of Wardell's prolific work in London, several notable churches, these include

St Birinus, Bridge End, Dorchester-on-Thames which was begun in 1846, and completed by 1849. This church, in Oxfordshire was one of the first Roman Catholic churches built following the passing of the 1839 Catholic Emancipation Act. The small and simple building is an almost exact replica of a 14th century Gothic chapel. It is constructed of Littlemore stone with a Caen stone porch. The interior has rectangular nave leading in the traditional fashion through a rood screen to a smaller and lower ceilinged chancel. The nave has a vaulted ceiling supported by wooden strapwork. Lit by stain glass windows, the whole structure hardly differs from the design of Anglican churches constructed in the same period. The expected paraphernalia of the more ritualistic Catholic worship is absent, side chapels and numerous secondary altars are conspicuous by their absence. The only contemporary jarring feature not found in an English country church is the set of late Byzantine style gilt chandeliers.^[9]

Another church from this period was Our Lady Star of the Sea, Greenwich, a Gothic church begun in 1856 and completed circa 1851, is surmounted by a tower completed by an ornate spire which in turn is complemented by the smaller spire of the adjacent stair turret. The church has remarkable architectural similarities to Wardell's later and largest work St Patrick's cathedral in Melbourne.^[10] Our Lady of Victories, Clapham completed between 1849-1851, Our Immaculate Lady of Victories (also known as St Mary's) situated in Clapham Park Road, Clapham, London SW4 was built between 1848 and 1851, the same year that Wardell completed Holy Trinity, Hammersmith.

[edit] Melbourne

St Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne

Melbourne in the early 1850s was a rough and primitive place with potholed roads. Robbery was commonplace, and the poverty caused by the soaring inflation, and streets that were in 1854 described as open sewers ensured that disease was rife.^[11] It was into this environment came men seeking fortunes digging for gold. Within ten years the gold rush had transformed Melbourne from a provincial outpost of the British Empire to a wealthy and rapidly expanding city. Between 1853 and 1854 Melbourne doubled in size, however many of its new and expanding population lived in tented villages within the city. This need for building, coupled with available funding drew aspiring young architects from around the world among them John James Clark, Peter Kerr and in William Wilkinson Wardell.

As the newly arrived and appointed Government Architect Wardell immediately began work on St Patrick's Cathedral, a task which was to occupy him for much of his life. In 1867 the Wardell Family moved into a large new house known as Ardoch, at 226 Dandenong Road, St Kilda at the time one of the smartest and most expensive residential area of Melbourne^[12] The 13 roomed two storied house in an Italianate style was built for £225 in 1864. The wardell family purchased it in 1867 and moved from their previous home in Powlett Street.^[13] East Melbourne. In 1859 Wardell had designed both the Catholic churches dedicated to St Mary in St. Kilda where he personally worshipped. The first in 1859 and it's larger replacement in 1897.

In Melbourne Wardell was not only the state employed Government Architect, but also had a flourishing private practice as well, building houses, shops, and business premises for all who could afford him. He did nor work in any one exclusive style, and could design in any architectural form his patron's required - Palladian, Neoclassical plus the various forms of Gothic, including notably at the ANZ Bank the floral Venetian Gothic.

In 1877 Sir Graham Berry became the premier of Victoria. His mission, considered radically left wing at the time, was to redistribute the grazing land of Victoria; and introduce a bill providing for the payment of members of the Assembly, which would enable working class candidates could to be elected. When his aims were rejected by the council, he embarked on a public campaign of "coercion". "We coerce madmen," he said, "We put them into lunatic asylums, and never was anything more the act of madmen than the rejection of the Appropriation Bill.". On 8 January 1878 known after "Black Wednesday" his "coercing" began using the reasoning that without his bill civil servants could not be paid Berry began to dismiss public servants, starting with police and judges. Wardell's was one of the many heads which fell - dismissed from office he left Melbourne to seek employment in Sydney.

During his time in Melbourne Wardell designed numerous buildings, including 14 parish churches in both the private and public sectors, while St Patrick's Cathedral is the largest and best known other notable buildings include the following below.

St Mary's Catholic Church. 208-214 Dandenong Road, St Kilda East was one of Wardell's early Melbourne works

[edit] St Patrick's Cathedral

Main article: St Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne

This Melbourne Cathedral is the largest Church to have been commenced and brought to near completion, anywhere in the world in the 19th century. Construction of a church on the site had begun in 1850 by Bishop Alipius Goold. Building was delayed by the fror of the Gold rush. Then in 1858 Goold laid the foundation stone for a second, but larger, church on the site. After only eight months of construction, work on the 2nd church ceased. Goold then instructed the newly arrived Wardell to design a cathedral on the site, and just a month later in December 1858 the new plans were accepted and work commenced.

Wardell's Gothic ANZ Bank (corner of Queen Street and Collins Street

Contrary to common belief Wardell was not however uniquely responsible for the design, he was instructed by his patron, Bishop Goold, to incorporate into the design as much as could be saved of the previous church on the site. Thus he was forced retain the existing floor level, rather than raising it five metres which would have kept it on a level the nearby street rather than below it. [3]

Wardell's overall design was in Gothic Revival style, paying tribute to the mediaeval cathedrals of Europe. The nave being in Early English in style, while the remainder of the building is in the Decorated gothic style, a somewhat later Gothic style.

St Patrick's Cathedral became Wardell's life's work and most notable commission. The original plans which remained unaltered during construction. The nave and its aisles were completed just ten years later. The building was finally consecrated for use in 1897. At the time of his death in 1899, Wardell was still working on designs for the minor altars and fixtures and fittings. The spires which today adorn the building, are not by Wardell, and are felt by some to be out of proportion to the design.

[edit] Gothic Bank

Wardell's ANZ Bank, Collins Street Melbourne is often considered the finest Gothic revival building in Australia. Designed to accommodate to the new English, Scottish and Australian bank. The manager George Verdon was housed in an apartment above the bank. The massive banking hall was supported by iron columns with gilded heraldic motifs. The bank at 386-388 Collins Street was built in 1883 and is of Venetian Gothic Revival style. With loggias and small balconies in a style known as Venetian floral gothic.

[edit] Government House

Main article: Government House, Melbourne

Government House, Melbourne

Wardell's neoclassical interior at Government House

Government House in Melbourne is an example of the period in Wardell's career when he found his "newly discovered love for Italianate, Palladian and Venetian architecture".^[14] Designed to be the official residence of the Governor General of Australia in what is commonly described today as the Italianate style, cream coloured Government House— except for its machiolated signorial tower that Wardell crowned with a belvedere— would not be out of place among the unified streets and squares in Thomas Cubitt's Belgravia, London. One of the best-known buildings in this style and the possible inspiration was Queen Victoria's summer residence Osborne House on the Isle of Wight, England. Osborne was built between 1845 and 1851, based loosely on the palazzi of the Italian Renaissance. As the serving Inspector General of the Public Works Department, Wardell was the obvious choice of architect; work commenced in 1871 and lasted for five years.

Wardell's plan included the three-storey principal block containing the state rooms for official entertaining, and the secondary two-story wing to the north intended to contain the private apartments of the vice-regal family.^[15] The facade of the principal block or corps de logis is of six bays, the pedimented windows of the first and central floor being larger than those below and above thus indicating the piano nobile. The hipped roof is concealed by a balustraded parapet. The principal block is flanked by two lower asymmetrical secondary wings that contribute picturesque massing, best appreciated from an angled view. The larger of these being divided from the principal block by the belvedere tower. The smaller, the ballroom block, is entered through a columned porte-cochere designed as a single storey prostyle portico. The ballroom is said to have been the largest in the British Empire.^[16]

The interior of the house was in contrast to the classical interior. Fireplaces of Carrara and black Belgian marble were inset with Minton tiles in the Victorian style, while the elaborate plaster ceilings have deep recessed panels and moulded cornices at odds with the classicism of the design of the mansion. However, despite is heavy handed interiors the state rooms adequately fulfilled their purpose. Government house was declare open at a ball attended by 1400 people in 1876.^[17]

[edit] Sydney

St. Mary's from the West side. The Bell tower is seen in the top right.

Wardell arrived in Sydney in 1878. He designed many buildings the most notable being St Mary's Cathedral. This Cathedral is slightly larger than St Patrick's' Cathedral, and is the largest ecclesiastical building in Australia. Wardell designed the cathedral in the Gothic style, work began in 1868 while Wardell was still based in Melbourne. Work continued throughout Wardell's lifetime, the cathedral finally being completed in 1928. In 2000 the spires Wardell had intended, a scheme abandoned due to lack of finance, were finally constructed.

The ASN Co Building (see illustration at top of page) is a large warehouse at 1-5 Hickson Road, The Rocks, Sydney. Designed by Wardell for the Australasian Steam Navigation Co Building in 1884. It had distinctive Flemish gables and a bell tower, which has ensured it has "long been regarded as a significant Sydney landmark".^[18]

[edit] Architectural Legacy

Upton Grange, Sydney. Wardell's home where he died in 1899

Wardell died at his home, Upton Grange, North Sydney on the 19th November 1899 of heart failure and pleurisy. He is buried in the Catholic section of Gore Hill cemetery. He did not live long enough to see the final finishing touches to St Patrick's cathedral, and St Mary's cathedral was far from finished. His legacy to Australia has been to give that country two cathedrals which rank among the finest modern examples of gothic.^[19] St Patrick's Cathedral is considered one of the few Australian buildings to be of world significance.^[20] However, Wardell's work was more than the design of two cathedrals, his work was versatile and skilful in both the Gothic and classical styles and has given both Sydney and Melbourne some of their most distinguished 19th century buildings.

[edit] Notes

• A Quest for Perfection William Wilkinson Wardell and St Patrick's Cathedral accessed 28 August 2006.
• Government House Official website
• Melbourne, built on gold accessed 28 August 2006

[edit] External links

• Pictures of St Birinus Church. Henly on Thames
• Picture of Our Lady star of the sea, Greenwich