Altar, showing Street's richly detailed east wall, St James the Less, Westminster, designed by designed by George Edmund Street. 1861. Vauxhall Bridge Road, London. Photograph and text Jacqueline Banerjee [You may use these images without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the photographer and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one.]
Philip Watkins explains that the font and the altar were of special importance to a Tractarian like Street, hence the extraordinarily rich decoration of the wall behind the altar, with semi-precious stones inlaid here too, and an incised cross; and the elaborate ironwork canopy over the marble font near the entrance. Before being put in place, this unusual structure (like the Hereford Screen by Scott and Francis Skidmore) was exhibited: this time at the London Exhibition of 1861. Interestingly, there is no chancel screen in St James the Less, because it would have partially obscured the altar (Mitchell and Mitchell 30). But the ironwork by the choir stalls and to the side, which has a delicate floral design, compensates for this.
Other Views
- Front
- Part of the east wall, exterior
- Ironwork around churchyard, designed by Street, and government listed on its own account
- Main door, with columned porch and elaborately carved stonework
- Interior, showing east windows by Clayton and Bell
- Altar, showing Street's richly detailed east wall
- Ironwork by the choir stalls
- Ironwork screen to the side of the pulpit
- Carved stone pulpit by Thomas Earp
- Chancel wall Venetian glass mosaic by G. F. Watts (replacing his earlier mural here)
- Stained glass window by Clayton and Bell, depicting St James the Less
- Column, marble on stone, with parable ("The Sower") carved into the stone, capital (according to Speel) "apparently by W. Pearce"
- Decorative column with stencilling at the base
- Marble font with highly decorative ironwork canopy and surround
- Wall plaque to Dr James Monk's daughters, who founded the church
References
Jackson, Neil. "The UnEnglishness of G. E. Street's Church of St. James-the-Less." Architectural History. 23 (1980): 86-94.
Mitchell, Anthony and Olive. Thomas Earp: Eminent Victorian Sculptor. Buckingham: Baron, 2002.
Speel, Bob. "St James the Less, Vauxhall Bridge Road."
Watkins, Philip. The Church and Its History: St James the Less (1994; 8-page pamphlet available at the church).
Weinreb, Ben and Christopher Hibbert, eds. The London Encyclopaedia. London: Macmillan, rev. ed. 1992.
Last modified 15 February 2008