Ushaw

USHAW - The new chapel, dedicated to St. Aloysius, at the Roman Catholic college at Ushaw, was formally dedicated on Wednesday week. It consists of a sanctuary and choir, separated by a screen from a transepted ante-chapel at the extreme west end. The east end terminates in a three-sided apse in place of the usual square finish. The east window of the former chapel has now become the west window, enlarged and enriched with additional mouldings, and the old glass has been renovated and im- proved by Hardman, who designed and executed it. The old choir windows, with their stained glass, are grouped round the sanctuary, and these, with some additional subjects, and one new window, fill the apse. New windows, ten in number, light the new choir. It is intended to fill these with stained glass, representing on the south side a whole series of North-country saints, and on the north side the martyrs from Douay College. In the ante-chapel the old windows are replaced, enriched with mouldings to suit the increased proportions of the church. The doors are also rebuilt into the new work. An angel carved in stone surmounts the centre gable of choir apse. The division between the sanctuary and the choir is marked by a larger pinnacle, containing a niche with a figure of St. Joseph—the gift of one of the architects, Mr. Archibald Dunn. At the extremities of the label over each south choir window are carved heads of Pope Leo X Ill., Cardinals Allen, Wiseman, and Manning, Dr. Lingard, and the presidents, Dr. Newsham, Dr. Tate, and Dr. Wilkinson. The old niches have been replaced and are furnished with statues in stone of St. Thomas of Canterbury, St. Francis of Assisi, Our Lord, and Our Lady. The total length of the interior is 159ft., which makes it one of the longest college chapels in England. It is divided into nine bays by carved and moulded stone shafts, which support the principal timbers of the roof. From these shafts spring arches forming a series of arcades from end to end of the church, and passing round the apse, where they are slightly contracted in width. The mouldings of the arches partly die away on the shafts and are partly received by angels holding scrolls. In the four bays of the ante-chapel are sculptured the four archangels, springing from corbels of medieval foliage, and in the arcading above, in niches, stand the statues, nearly life-size, of SS. Peter and Paul. The clear width of the chapel is 35ft., and it is occupied by three lines of canopied stalls and seats in oak, arranged length- wise on each side. Above the stalls the whole of the Magnificat " is cut in Gothic letters. The interior height is 56ft., the ceiling being a barrel- shaped vault, divided into panels, and in tho sanctuary a semi- vaulted roof is introduced. The floors are laid with encaustic tiles. The heating of the church is by coils of hot-water pipes placed high up in the thickness of the walls underneath the sill of each window. Cold air is introduced into the coils through chases in the walls, and the supply is controlled by valves in the panelling above the stalls. The new sacristy is 30ft. by 28ft. The old high altar and reredos, by Pugin, have been erected at the south end of the ante- chapel, which is separated by a screen of carved oak, designed by Mr. Champney, and executed by Messrs. Bell and Co., of Saffron Walden. The stone carving is by Mr. Wall, of Cheltenham, and the wood carving by Mr. Witty, working for Messrs. Robson and Son, of Newcastle. The heating apparatus was constructed and laid by Messrs. Metcalf and Dilworth, of Preston. Messrs. Reed, of Newcastle, were the builders; and Mr. Gaby, also of Newcastle, was the general contractor. Mr. Peter Seed acted as resident clerk of the works, under the direction of Messrs. Dunn and Hansom, the architects. Ten of the new windows were executed by Mr. W. H. Atkinson, of Newcastle. [Building News 7 August 1885 page 227]