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Commentary from The Graphic

In St. Mary Redcliff — the rose and flower of parish churches — the Third Pointed or Perpendicular style of architecture is seen in its highest realised perfection. In completeness of parts, grandeur of proportion, and finish of detail, the building partakes of the character of a cathedral church. The exuberantly carved porches, particularly the famous northern entrance, the panelled walls, flying buttresses, trefoiled parapet and mural pinnacles, the storeys of windows with their elegant tracery, the magnificent tower and spire, triple-aisled transepts, long and lofty nave and chancel, tall clustered columns nnd graceful arches, groined roof embossed with literally more than a thousand sculptured devices, of which no two are alike, together with the Lady Chapel and undercroft, are attributes that entitle the edifice to rank architecturally with at least the lesser cathedral# of England. Why the magnitude and beauty of the structure did not cause it, instead of the neighbouring house of Austin Canons, to be raised to the dignity of a cathedral, to which William Wyrcester (1450) likens it, is answered by Fuller, who says “that tne church was not sufficiently accommodated, like St. Augustine's, with public buildings about it for the palace of a dean or chapter.” The same quaint historian characteristically adds that “as the town of Hague in Holland would never be built about, as accounting it more credit to be the biggest of villages in Europe than a lesser city, so Redcliff Church esteemed it a greater grace to lead the van of nil parochial, than to follow in the rear after many cathedral churches in England.”

The origin of the church is obscure, but a Saturday Reviewer, in an article entitled “St. Mary Redcliff” (Nov. 10, 1877), no doubt correctly assigns its original erection to the Barons of Berkeley, who, in the thirteenth century, held the Manor of Redcliff. These lords were among the greatest church builders of the Middle Ages, their arms being, according to the historian of the family, emblazoned in the windows of as many as one hundred parish churches and oratories, which they more or less erected or endowed. In the fifth year of Edward III., the Berkeleys having fallen into disgrace, the Manor of Redcliff was confiscated into the King's hands, and there is evidence that the church then existing had become so ruinous as to necessitate reconstruction. The city chronicles assign the honour of rebuilding the fabric to Simon de Burton, who filled the office of Mayor of Bristol five times between the year 1291 and 1304, a period when the authority of the Berkeleys was paralysed.

About the year 1445 there occurred a terrible storm, in which the spire of Redcliff was struck down by lightning, and, falling upon the body of the fabric, reduced the church almost to ruin. The work of reconstruction was effected by the later William Canynge, and with what success the present superb edifice shows. The restoration of the church, which has included the re-erection of the spire, is now complete, and my lie pronounced one of the most successful works of its kind. It has cost 40,000l. Included in this sum is 2,500l for re-sculpturing the north porch, which was effected by the liberality of the late Mr. Alderman Proctor, who was a worthy successor to Canynge. [67, 70]

Left: The Docks and the Church of St. Mary Redcliff. Right: Interior of the Church of St. Mary Redcliff. [Click on images to enlarge them.]

Bibliography

“Bristol Illustrated.” The Graphic (20 July 1878): 60-77. Internet Archive online version of a copy in the University of Illinois Library. Web. 16 August 2018.

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Last modified 16 August 2018