Church of the Holy Name, Oxford Road, Manchester: Pulpit

The beautiful new pulpit in the Church of the Holy Name, Oxford Street, was used for the first time yesterday. The Bishop of Salford, Dr Vaughan preached in the morning. Rising from a base of white and blue veined marble, with thereon an upper base of alabaster (of which, except where superseded by marbles the rest of the pulpit is composed), the pulpit rests upon a series of black and gold alternating with black and white shafts, with moulded bases and carved capitals. The spaces are filled with open panels of alabaster, which serve to make the structure less massive than would otherwise be the case. Above the caps are two rows of flowing carvings, bordered and supported by mouldings. The, commencing slightly below the floor level, are five pointed panels intended for mosaics. These panels are covered with richly moulded pointed arches supported on columns of bluish stalactite in three cases and Irish green in the other two. Any possible stiffness in outline of the outer angles is obviated by an arrangement of sanguine jasper columns supporting foliage, which mingles with the flowing foliage on the spandrels above the mosaic panels. An especially luminous alabaster has been selected with richly carved capping at the top, on the parts which can catch the light. The pulpit is approached by an easy flight of eight steps of Forest of Dean stone, the rises being filled in by deep red and gold coloured encaustic tiles. The balustrade is composed of alabaster arcading, certain panels being made solid for the sake of strength. The columns used here are of brocatelle, sanguine jasper and Iberian agate. The work is of the Decorated period of Gothic architecture, with the exception of portions of the foliage, which are in the 13th century style. The pulpit is surmounted by an oak sounding board, flat underneath so as in no way to impede the passage of the waves of sound to the congregation. The work has been executed by Mr A B Wall, sculptor, of Cheltenham, from the designs of Mr J S Hansom, architect, South Kensington. Mr Hansom’s father was the builder of the church.* The five panels of mosaics are intended to contain busts of five of the English martyrs of the Reformation recently declared blessed. They are John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester and Cardinal; Sir Thomas More, Lord High Chancellor of England; Father Edward Campion S J; Father J Houghton, a Carthusian monk of the London Charterhouse; and Father J Forrest, a Franciscan friar. …. The whole of the mosaic work is being prepared by Dr Salvisti and Company of Regent Street London, and Venice from the cartoons prepared by Mr G B Maycock of Birmingham, under the instructions of Mr Hansom

* Sir – Referring to the statement in your issue of this day that my father was the “builder” of this church, I think it right to ask you, in justice to his memory, to myself and to the builders, to state the exact case. My father the late Joseph Aloysius Hansom, was the architect, and during the early part of its construction, received me into partnership, so that we became joint architects of this work. The builders were Messrs Ibberson and Marshall of this town. Yours etc. Joseph S Hansom, Architect, Manchester 20 January 1890

Reference    Manchester Guardian 20 January 1890 page 8
Reference    Manchester Guardian 22 January 1890 page 7 – correspondence