Architecture
The Sacred Heart Church occupies a prominent position in Richmond Hill
Sacred Heart, Bournemouth Paul Waddington on how three architects contributed to the making of this south coast church
T
oday, Bournemouth is a sizeable town and popular seaside resort with a population of 180,000 or more; but until 1816, when half a dozen villas were built, there was nothing but barren heathland behind the cliffs that line the coast between Christchurch and Poole. The River Bourne that joins the sea via a gap, or chine, in the cliffs was too small for any form of port, although it is said that it made an ideal haven for smugglers. Helped by the fashionable pastime of sea bathing, and the perceived healthiness of the sea air, Bournemouth began to develop as a resort for the well-to-do in the middle years of the nineteenth century. Following the arrival of the railway in 1870, Bournemouth expanded rapidly, attracting not only
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summer visitors, but also wealthy yearround residents escaping the polluted air of London. Amongst these London exiles were some Catholics who prevailed upon the Jesuits at Farm Street to send a priest to Bournemouth. Mass was initially said in one of the hotels, and later in the Assembly Rooms. By 1870, the increasing congregation required a permanent home, and money was found to purchase a burned-out house and several cottages in Richmond Hill for a new church to be built. A temporary wooden chapel was built on the site and one of the cottages was retained as the presbytery. The wooden chapel was short lived, because Fr Dignam S J, who took charge in 1871, engaged Henry Clutton to design a permanent church.
Henry Clutton was a convert from Anglicanism. His early works were mostly concerned with country houses, but he became well known as an architect after he won a competition to design the new cathedral at Lille. Lille had newly been made a diocese, and a new cathedral was required because the town’s principal church had been destroyed in the French Revolution. The bishop wanted a cathedral that was both large and grand, and launched an international competition for its design. There were 41 submissions, with Clutton taking first prize. Probably because Clutton was English and Protestant, the execution of his scheme was given to French architects. Work on the cathedral started in 1854, and continued for 150 years. Even then,
AUTUMN 2019
