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ANSWER. SIR GEORGE GILBERT SCOTT.
Public attention has recently been drawn to the magnificent
restoration of the Prince Albert Memorial in London in October 1998,
and to its creator, Sir George Gilbert Scott, the famous Victorian
architect.
At the very same time that Sir George Gilbert Scott was working on
the Prince Albert Memorial (1862-63), he was also masterminding an
extensive restoration of one of Hull's oldest churches, St. Mary The
Virgin, Lowgate, (in the "old town" of Hull). This project was very
much a family affair, for the vicar of St. Marys was Sir George's own
cousin, the Revd. John Scott "the second". 1 should mention that
there were three generations of the Scott family who were all vicars
at St. Mary's in succession from 1816 until 1883, and all were called
John!
The work that Sir George did at St. Mary's was quite drastic because
it had to counter the moves by the local Board of Health to demolish
part or all of the church to widen the street, which was a main
thorough-fare to the old market-place. His compromise was to demolish
the old south porch and the western ends of each aisle, which
encompassed the base of the tower, and pierce the bottom of the tower
with arches to allow the pavement to go through it. He then added an
extra aisle to the south side to acommodate the large congregation,
which meant taking down the entire south wall, putting in a new row
of pillars and rebuilding the south wall further out, with a new
porch (similar in parts to the Albert Memorial).
The details of Sir George Gilbert Scott's restoration at St.Mary's
are documented in the book "Our Lady of Hull" by M. Edward lngram.
Sir George was a prolific architect of the Gothic style, having
worked on over 400 churches and many abbeys and cathedrals, including
Salisbury and Ely Cathedrals. The fact that English Heritage has
invested £1 1.2 million in the restoration of the Prince Albert
Memorial shows how respected and treasured the work of this man has
become.
The Heritage Lottery Fund (acting through English Heritage) has
recently awarded £427,600 to our own restoration appeal to enable us
to start the next two phases of St. Mary's urgently needed repairs.
The first phase was completed several years ago and involved
replacing crumbling stonework at the top of the tower. The estimated
cost of the total work needed is over £1.5 million, and we need to
raise at least 40 percent of this, - assuming we can get further
grants from the Heritage Lottery Fund for the phases to follow
(phases 4, 5, 6 and 7 have been estimated, but no money is yet
available).
For more information, please contact Paul Sorfleet (Churchwarden) on
Hull 707449 or send an S.A.E. to him at:- 841 Holderness Road, |
