THE PROTECTION OF OUR ENGLISH CHURCHES Report for 1923 of
the Central Committee for the Protection of Churches. (Oxford University Press, 1923. 2s.)
The subject with which this Report, which is published with " the warmest approval and encouragement ' of the Archbishop of Canterbury, deals is one of general interest. How much English history is recorded in the fabrics of our churches ! How great would be the national loss were this record mutilated or defaced ! The work of restoration calls, not only for generosity—of this there is no lack among us— but for knowledge. This has not infrequently been wanting, not only among churchwardens and incumbents, but among persons of whom better things might have been expected :—
" The Gothic revival of the nineteenth century was accompanied by a vast amount of =necessary destruction of ancient work of all periods. To realize the enormous losses we sustained as a nation we have only to recall the theories then current. It was widely hold, e.g., that a Church of many periods should be restored to what it was m its first period of construction ; that Gothic work after about 1350 was more or less ' debased ' ; that Renaissance additions on furniture should be removed from a Gothic church as incon- gruous ; and that mutilated or broken works of mediaeval art must either be completely restored or else discarded."
Even in the present century it would be easy to compile a list of scandals in the way of destruction of mediaeval and Renaissance work.
The existing system of " Faculties " is in need of strengthen- ing ; and the Church must set her house in order, if the care of it is not to be taken out of her hands. It is undesirable that this should be done. State officials are no more exempt from fads than ecclesiastical ; and diocesan or county authon- tics rightly guided—the proviso is important—are sensitive to local atmosphere, which means little to a Government Department. But it must be remembered that it is these three things, • " neglect of repair, drastic and mishandled repairs, and crude and aggressive modern additions, with, of course, a fourth,, destruction of ancient work," that have led many archaeologists and artists to think that the Church is unfit to have the care of her ancient buildings, and that their only safety lies in the State taking possession of them. The working of the Advisory Diocesan Committees shows, this Report assures us, that the system which they represent is fast providing a remedy for these evils. The Central Com- mittee (1921) not only supplies deficiencies in the Diocesan Committees, but is also prepared to advise in the case of churches which do not come under the Consistory Court jurisdiction. Its expenses are small ; and, though a guaran- teed minimum is required, the £1,000 or £1,200 a year asked for should be found with little difficulty. It should, if possible, be raised now and capitalized for future emergencies.
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