C AT H E D R A L M M X
G E R A R D
S T A M P
C AT H E D R A L M M X An exhibition of paintings a nd charco a l d rawings by GERARD STAMP to celebrate the opening of Norwich Cathedral Hostry
Facing page: Gerard (far left) and friends pose on the Hostry arch during their last year at Norwich School, 1972 Following pages: ‘St Ethelberts Gate’ Etching 1817 by John Sell Cotman (left) A V Humphris, seated under window, presides over an art class in Ethelbert Gate, 1972 (right)
GERARD STAMP IS AN ARTIST WITH A
activities. I went everywhere: round the tower and up
singular vision of how fine old buildings inhabit light and
the spire (I'm not ashamed to confess that my initials can
landscape - a view based on a great deal of looking and
be found on the inside wall by the top window), up and
working and walking.
down all the Norman spiral stairs, on the roof under the
Gerard attended Norwich School from 1964 to 1972,
flying buttresses, over the nave between the vaulting and
with six years as a boarder. "My first tearful night away
the roof, round the triforium and the clerestory. All is
from home was in a dormitory with a view of the
now heavily padlocked but back then a friendly steward
cathedral framed by a Georgian sash window," he
let me into the one door that opened up a world of
remembers. "It became a constant
mediaeval adventure."
influence on my school life."
That door features in Steps to the
The senior boarding house was
Triforium, a picture in this present
the Old Bishop's Palace, "an
exhibition.
enormous, rambling, draughty,
Art was restored to the Norwich
spooky, romantic and scary
School curriculum as late as 1943,
warren of a place, the shell of
and was subsequently taught with
which is older than the cathedral
a passion by A.V. Humphris in the
itself. In winter it barely saw the
old chapel above Ethelbert Gate
sun, buried as it was under the
into the Close. Mr Humphris
shadow of the cathedral.
imparted "everything from the
"The cathedral was substantially shrouded in scaffolding
history of art and architecture, calligraphy, print-
during the 1960s," Gerard Stamp continues. "A lot of
making, stage design and graphics, to composition,
structural work was being done to the spire, and the
perspective, colour theory, and tonal values ".
north side underwent an extensive programme of
At first the art room lacked plumbing so the tutor raided
cleaning and repairs.
the Tombland horse trough, breaking the ice in winter,
"Scaffolding to an adventurous schoolboy was too much
and hauled buckets of water for powder paints up the
of a temptation, and in those days it was easy to climb
spiral stairs. Cotman had made an exquisite etching of
past the rudimentary obstacle designed to deter such
that great flint-flushworked gateway, and Gerard started
collecting the master's prints and studying his drawings
for me, she writes: ‘The whole place is so heavy with
and paintings in Norwich Castle.
history that in certain moods it gives you the feeling that
Hating team sports, he was transferred to the school’s
you have but to put out a finger to touch the past.’ "
History Society, for which he chose to record in words
We weren't just touching the past in those days, we
and drawings every Norwich church font. That led to a
were toppling it. Gerard joined other Norwich residents
thesis on the then-forgotten
to try and stop the destruction of
Victorian architect
Thomas
mediaeval Magdalen Street by the
Jeckyll, via cycle tours across
Inner Link Road, and failed. They
Norfolk to study and sketch
marched to save Timberhill - and
churches in particular. Winning
won. A loss would have meant
the Edith Stephenson Prize for
modern blocks stretching from
Local History for his thesis, he
the old city walls to the Castle
asked for and received a book
Mound.
entitled Ruins published by
He himself yearned to be an
Country Life, featuring sites he
architect, but was given no
would subsequently paint such as
encouragement - to his lingering
Covehithe and Castle Acre, and
regret. Instead he studied
liberally illustrated by artists
illustration and design and then
including Cotman, Piper and
enjoyed a hugely successful
Ruskin. Like them he was drawn
career in advertising.
to noble designs collapsing back
Enjoyed isn't quite the word.
to nature.
After architecture, he longed for
"This fascination with decay, romance, and echoes in
art and kept vowing to become a full-time painter - the
the wind, are all tangled up with my love of Norfolk,"
dream eventually clinched as late as 2001. In London
he says. "There is a wonderful chapter in Lilias Rider
from the 1980s he studied the techniques of the great
Haggard's Norfolk Notebook in which, referring to the
watercolourists, loving watercolour for its closeness to
area around Binham but summing up the entire county
drawing and also to poetry. Loving Cotman most of all,
for the "melancholy and stillness" of his best pictures,
happy marriage of ancient and modern. Here we see
he spent many hours in the Victoria & Albert Museum
weathered exteriors and secret interiors like corners of
and British Museum, copying his images and then
a stone forest, with the twisted trunks of great columns
tracing his footsteps further afield.
and the branches and leaves of tracery.
When finally he returned to Norfolk to paint, he moved
The inspirational structure arose through ingenuity and
with his wife and family to the converted kitchens
industry and yet appears so natural - just like the
of Gunton Hall, near Cromer. Such was his devotion to
paintings. As Simon Jenkins has written: "Gerard Stamp
Cotman that ensuing pictures verged on pastiches of the
turns architecture into art. He converts stone and brick,
master - so dozens ended up in
light and shadow, the tilt of a
the kitchen fireplace.
roof and the line of a wall into a
Those purging flames heralded
living, exhilarating picture."
a new line in watercolour. An
And, save for yellow hard hats,
image would be meticulously
the workmen held forever in the
sketched out and painted on
painted grid of the Hostry
thick, rough Arches paper, and
building site are much like their
then plunged into a sink and
mediaeval forebears who toiled
sponged. The surviving painting,
to sculpt a glorious space that
now minus most of the pencil
Gerard Stamp has adored from
marks and considerably softened,
his schooldays.
would then be dried and reworked - and then maybe
"I just love the building," he concludes. "It has its own
soaked, wiped and worked all over again.
smell, its own warmth. There are many grander, more
What emerges is the thrill of the familiar rendered in a
beautiful cathedrals, but none more welcoming, or
fresh light. And that's what makes this Gerard Stamp
more intimate. Norwich Cathedral is a close friend."
show a perfect inaugural exhibition for the Norwich Cathedral Hostry - a ÂŁ10m development by Sir Michael
I A N C O L L I N S Writer and curator specialising in East
Hopkins on the west front, complementing the Snape-
Anglian art. ‘Water Marks’, his next book on the creativity of
based architect's fabulous south-side refectory. It's that
this region, will include a chapter on Gerard Stamp.
THE CATHEDRAL FROM THE CLOISTER 2009 Watercolour 26” x 17.5” Signed print 22” x 15.5”
STEPS TO THE TRIFORIUM 2009 Watercolour 23” x 16”
STEPS TO THE PRESBYTERY 2009 Watercolour 21” x 15”
ST LUKE’S CHAPEL IN MOONLIGHT 2009 Watercolour 21” x 14.5”
THROUGH THE SOUTH TRANSEPT SCREENS 2009 Watercolour 24.5” x 16.5”
STEPS TO THE PRESBYTERY 2008 Charcoal 34” x 23”
TOWARDS THE JESUS CHAPEL 2009 Watercolour 18” x 24”
THE NAVE FROM THE NORTH AISLE 2008 Charcoal 34” x 23”
SOUTH TRANSEPT SCREEN 2009 Watercolour 23” x 16.5”
CONSTRUCTING THE HOSTRY 2009 Charcoal 36” x 42”
WORKMEN ON THE HOSTRY ROOF 2009 Watercolour 16.5” x 12”
A CORNER OF THE EAST END 2009 Watercolour 23” x 16.5”
CHAPTER HOUSE DOORS 2009 Watercolour 17” x 23”
ERPINGHAM GATE 2009 Watercolour 20” x 14”
THE CATHEDRAL FROM THE SCHOOL PLAYING FIELDS 2009 Watercolour 35” x 20.5”
T H E O P E N I N G O F Norwich Cathedral Hostry
little impact as possible on the fabric of the existing
visitor and education centre marks the completion of a
buildings and archaeological remains. Materials were
ten year building project, one of the most extensive and
used similar to those found in the Cathedral, such as
ambitious developments at an English cathedral since the
oak and limestone, to maintain the aesthetic of the
rebuilding of Coventry, and the largest at Norwich for
original buildings, while bringing a spirit of modernity
900 years. The Hostry (together with its award-winning
to the structure.
sister building the new Refectory) was designed by a
The work is as environmentally sustainable as practical,
team led by Sir Michael Hopkins and will become the
with natural ventilation, insulation and underfloor
main visitor entrance to the entire Cathedral.
heating to improve energy efficiency wherever possible.
A Heritage Lottery Fund grant, together with the
The ground floor encompasses the entrance and visitor
Cathedral's own fundraising campaign, has provided the
welcome, an 'Encounter Space', to host the Cathedral's
ÂŁ10m needed to create the new building. Working
programme of temporary exhibitions, and an education
within one of the most beautiful of all English Cathedral
suite. The first floor consists of a Community Room
Closes, the aim has been to re-create the volume of the
with seating for over 200 people, Song School and Music
mediaeval Hostry that stood on this site, while making as
Library, which has the potential for use as a Concert Hall.
www.gerardstamp.com