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FRIENDS of ARUNDEL CATHEDRAL
CORNERSTONE Autumn 2014
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Dear Friends Previous issues of Cornerstone have focused on aspects of the Cathedral’s architecture and design.This time we look at the Cathedral archive; the collection of books, records and photographs that tell the story of worship here since the church first opened its doors in 1873. During the past year the Friends have been involved in a number of activities. In March another working party was convened for the clearing up of the Cathedral cemetery.This is an event a number of Friends and other parishioners clearly enjoy, made all the more convivial by Monica Clifton’s provision of refreshment in the Cathedral Centre. Further dates will certainly be arranged. In July the Friends hosted a visit to Arundel by the Friends of Westminster Cathedral. Our own challenge of building maintenance pales into insignificance in comparison with theirs, where there is not only a massive edifice to be maintained, but also the continuation of interior decoration still incomplete after over a hundred years. Indeed one of the pleasures of calling in to Westminster Cathedral is to see the gradual progress made between each visit.The Arundel Friends are planning a return visit to Westminster, details of which will be circulated in due course. A highlight of the Friends’ year was a summer vespers service in the Cathedral, followed by a reception in the Collector Earl’s Garden, Arundel Castle, courtesy of His Grace, Duke Edward. On one of the warmest days of the year a large company enjoyed a wonderful evening in this most beautiful location, with the added benefit of a guided tour of the gardens by the Castle’s Head Gardener Martin Duncan.We are most grateful to him and all those involved. In September a tour of the Fitzalan Chapel was arranged jointly by the Friends and the Friends of Arundel Museum. A report is included on pages 6 and 7. The winter Vespers service will take place as usual on the first Sunday of Advent, and we look forward to seeing as many Friends as possible on that occasion. Oliver Hawkins Editor
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The Cathedral Archive The Cathedral archive is diverse but not overwhelming, and has grown in a relatively haphazard manner. Some Cathedral Canons have been enthusiastic hoarders, others have delighted in clearing stuff out. I feel we are fortunate at present in having a custodian in Tim Madeley who not only appreciates the collection but adds to it, finding interesting items on Ebay and suchlike. And we are extremely lucky to have a dedicated archivist in Hilary Caws, whose role is described elsewhere in this issue. The archive contains missals and hymnals, devotional volumes and orders of service, registers and directories, photographs and engravings. The miscellaneous handful of items illustrated here reflects the wide variety of subjects and styles of over a hundred years of parish life, St Philip’s School, and private devotion, from richly bound volumes to twopenny leaflets.
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Some are beautiful objects in their own right, such as the small volume of the sayings of Duke Henry’s favourite saint, Philip Neri, from which a selection are quoted. Others appeal by virtue of their contents – a parent’s letter to St Philip’s School asking for their son to be sent home promptly in the case of an air-raid, or the perennial problem of schoolchildren’s hair. The archive grows on an almost daily basis, with such things as newsletters and orders of service reflecting the current, day-to-day life of the Cathedral. Today’s ephemera is, after all, tomorrow’s history.
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Maxims and Counsels of St Philip Neri Selected from a volume published by M H Gill & Son, Dublin, in 1903, presented by his Parish priest to Philip Mostyn on the occasion of his first communion, Arundel, 1906. He who wishes to be perfectly obeyed should give but few orders. When dealing with our neighbour we must assume as much pleasantness of manner as we can, and by this affability win him to the way of virtue. Cheerfulness strengthens the heart and makes us persevere in a good life; wherefore the servant of God ought always to be in good spirits. We must always remember that God does everything well, although we may not see the reason for what He does. A man without prayer is like an animal without the use of reason. We must never pray for a favour for anyone except conditionally, saying ‘If it pleases God’, or the like. The wisdom of the Scriptures is learned rather by prayer than by study. Young men should be very careful to avoid idleness. Let the young man look after the flesh, and the old man after avarice, and we shall all be saints together. To be without pity for other men’s falls is an evident sign that we shall fall ourselves shortly. The cheerful are much easier to guide in the spiritual life than the melancholy. At table, especially when there are guests, we ought to eat every kind of food, and not say ‘I like this, and I do not like that’. Men are generally the carpenters of their own crosses. As to temptations, some are mastered by flying from them, some by resisting them, and some by despising them. The true medicine to cure us of pride is to keep down and thwart touchiness of mind. There is not a finer thing on earth than to make a virtue of necessity. He who continues in anger, strife, and a bitter spirit, has a taste of the air of hell. He who desires ecstasies and visions does not know what he desires.
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OFFICE OF THE DEAD Duke Henry’s copy, on the occasion of the funeral of his mother Minna (Augusta), Duchess of Norfolk, March 1886.
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Tour of the Fitzalan Chapel In September the Friends, together with the Friends of Arundel Museum, arranged a tour of the Fitzalan Chapel, described as ‘the most perfect tomb house in England’, followed by a cream tea in the Cathedral Centre, with proceeds split between the two charities. An excellent turnout of 65 people attended, filling the main part of the Chapel, and heard, to the surprise of many, how the Chapel had always been kept separate from the main parish church of St Nicholas, long before the division of the English Reformation. Built as one project in the 1380s, in the English Perpendicular style, of local flint and Pulborough stone, the church, chapel and associated priory were originally planned by Richard, 3rd Earl of Arundel. His own tomb in Chichester Cathedral was the inspiration for Philip Larkin’s celebrated poem, An Arundel Tomb, with the memorable last line ‘What will survive of us is love’.The Earl died before the project was begun, leaving its completion to his son and grandson. Over the centuries tombs and memorials to members of the Fitzalan, and subsequently Fitzalan Howard families were erected, including a number of outstanding works of decorative art. Potential loss of the Chapel was averted by Henry, 12th Earl, who in 1544 had the foresight to surrender the whole Priory to Henry VIII, and then paid the King a thousand marks to buy it back. During the Civil War the Parliamentarian General Waller famously stabled his soldiers’ horses in the Chapel, and used the interior for musket practice. But following the imprisonment and death in 1595 of the 13th Earl, St Philip Howard, the Chapel had fallen into relative disuse, and the ravages of the Roundheads only exacerbated a state of disrepair that was to continue for another 150 years. The beautifully restored Chapel that we see today, as with so much of Arundel, is the creation of Henry, 15th Duke. Having in his early twenties built the Church of St Philip Neri (now the Cathedral) Duke Henry undertook the major refurbishment of his ancestral tomb house, culminating with the magnificent stained glass window in which he and his small son are pictured assisting in the requiem mass for his late wife Flora. The Fitzalan Chapel continues to serve as a resting place for the Fitzalan Howards, and many of the Friends visiting will have had personal memories of Duke Bernard, Duchess Lavinia, and Duke Miles, whose memorials have now joined those of earlier centuries.
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The Archivist Hilary Caws, who took over from Michael Rycroft two years ago as Cathedral Archivist, is well known in the parish. Her husband Ian and their five children have all been prominent in music-making, and Hilary taught at St Philip’s School for fifteen years, providing another strong link with the Cathedral community. As a history graduate with a love of books and experience working in the Library services of Hampshire and West Sussex she is well-qualified to deal with the diverse and ever-growing collection that has accumulated at Arundel over the years. With some guidance from the Diocesan Archivist she has set about identifying and labeling shelves of books, piles of journals and ledgers, and boxes of papers and photographs, to facilitate access to information of all sorts. As well as the day-to-day needs for the Cathedral clergy and Parish Secretary, there are enquiries from individuals, often in connection with the increasingly popular field of family history. As with so many activities in and around the Cathedral her work is done on an entirely voluntary basis, and the Parish and Diocese are fortunate in having Hilary’s services.
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The Friends of Arundel Cathedral registered as a company Limited by guarantee and not having a share capital (No 3792834) Registered Charity No 1078149 The Friends’ Office, Cathedral House, Parsons Hill Arundel, West Sussex BN18 9AY Telephone: 01903 884567 Email: aruncathfriends@btconnect.com