Record contributor and Perth author Tony Evans has released his latest effort, a masterly study of the life and achievements of one of the nation’s greatest architects…
Reviewed by Michael Costigan
during his only visit to Australia, a year before his death, my seminary classmate and friend from our shared Roman days, Professor Adrian Hastings, was amazed to find in this country two such majestic Cathedrals as St Patrick’s in Melbourne and St Mary’s in Sydney.
His reaction to these ‘down under’ Gothic Revival masterpieces was typical of that of other first-time travellers to Australia for whom I have acted as a guide. Among them were several Cardinals and Bishops.
When I told Adrian that the architect for both buildings was William Wilkinson Wardell (1823-99), like himself an Englishman, the distinguished theologian and historian was pleased. If the two Cathedrals were the only surviving examples in this country of Wardell’s genius, that alone would justify the publishing of the architect’s first full biography, written with style and passion by A G (Anthony) Evans. But they are far from being isolated examples of their designer’s art. During his 41 years as an Australian immigrant, half of them spent in Melbourne and half in Sydney, Wardell designed wholly or in part around a dozen churches and close to 20 other buildings, most of which still stand and are much admired.
Leaving England in 1858 at the age of 35, Wardell had already established his reputation there and in Scotland as an architect of church and other buildings, nearly all constructed in the style of that Gothic Revival which his mentor and inspiration Augustus Pugin (1812-52) had led. Many are extant, in some cases with modern changes (not all praiseworthy) or repairs necessitated by wartime bombing.
Wardell quickly made his mark in the young city of Melbourne, growing apace and able to afford grand buildings in the wake of Victoria’s gold rush. He was almost immediately commissioned under Bishop Goold’s leadership of the diocese to become the architect for what was then envisaged as a Cathedral intended to dominate the skyline for centuries.
For the best part of four decades, collaborating for much of that time with the legendary Dean John Fitzpatrick, he was closely involved in virtually every detail of the building and furnishing of St Patrick’s bluestone Cathedral.
At the same time, he was designing other church buildings in Melbourne and other parts of Victoria. Two outstanding examples of his parish church creations are St Mary’s, East St Kilda, and St Ignatius’ in Richmond.
As if the demands on his private practice from ecclesiastical sources were not enough, Wardell willingly accepted senior public service appointments as Inspector General of Public Works and Chief Architect. The most celebrated of his creations in the latter role is Victoria’s Government House near the Botanic Gardens, still one of Australia’s most praised buildings.
Meanwhile, he had been developing a special relationship with Church authorities in Sydney, leading to his accepting commissions for the designing of St John’s College in Sydney University and eventually to his assuming the role of architect for the new St Mary’s Cathedral. This was to become an intimate, almost daily involvement, from the time of his 1878 move to Sydney to the time of his death, in the planning and building of what Anthony Evans calls ‘his greatest work’.
As in Melbourne, Wardell’s work on the building of a great cathedral did not stand in the way of his accepting other commissions. These resulted in his designing several fine bank buildings in both Melbourne, which he continued to visit regularly, and Sydney, as well as a pair of clubs in the city of Sydney and three warehouses in the Rocks area. Unfortunately, not all of these non-ecclesiastical buildings have survived.
Hampered to some extent by the absence of any diaries or personal recollections by Wardell, Evans traces the story of his early life, beginning with his growing up in London’s East End as the son of the master and mistress of a workhouse in the Borough of Poplar.
For a short period he went to sea, against his father’s wishes, after which he trained successfully as an engineer and architect and began to build his career. Later, in Hampstead, after his marriage in 1847, he developed close friendships with his neighbour, Clarkson Stanfield the artist, as well as with the novelist Charles Dickens.
Wardell had left the Anglican Church and become a Catholic in 1844, aged 20. Evans regards the conclusion that John Henry Newman influenced this decision as doubtful, as is the claim that he and Newman were good friends.
His conversion preceded Newman’s by a few years. Coupled with Pugin’s much more evident influence, it helped to open the way for Wardell’s years of creativity as the architect of Catholic buildings in Britain in the 1850s. One notable example among many is the large London Church of Saints Mary and Michael, sometimes called ‘the Cathedral of the East End’.
The details of the Australian half of Wardell’s life, when he became a renowned public figure, are more thoroughly documented than his earlier years. While carrying a prodigious workload, he had to endure the envy of some competitors and the hostility of a newspaper. It was the abrupt and unfair termination of his public service appointments in 1878 that led to his move to Sydney. But this did not interfere with his work on St Patrick’s for Archbishops Goold and Carr.
Inter-city rivalry being what it is, Melbourne and Sydney Catholics (and others) may have different opinions about the comparative merits of the two great Cathedrals.
Brought up in the Victorian capital and educated by the Jesuits in the shadow of St Patrick’s, I should have a natural sentimental bias towards it. But frequent visits to St Mary’s prayerful interior since moving to Sydney 35 years ago, together with the pleasure gained when often gazing at the imposing sandstone edifice from all directions outside, deter me from declaring that St Patrick’s has my vote. Anthony Evans, who has written thoughtful pages on the comparison, is in no doubt that St Mary’s has the edge. Evidence from others rather than from his own pen is not lacking about the kind of man William Wardell was. He was clearly something of a workaholic, highly sensitive, proud of his achievements, well aware of his talent, never prepared to accept ‘second best’ solutions and insistent on being treated with respect and justice.
His biographer considers that Government House, Melbourne tells us much about its creator’s character: ‘we see nobility, strength yet restraint, elegance, discipline and informed taste, attributes which we may apply to Wardell himself’.
Above all, he emerges from these pages as a devout believer, whose church architecture expresses his deep faith. Like mediaeval Cathedrals, his two and his many other churches in two hemispheres are ‘a celebration of belief’. They were truly built with conviction. The author knows much about architecture, as he has shown in previous writings. He provides full descriptions of Wardell’s buildings, most of which he evidently visited while researching the architect’s life. More than 50 photographs complement his clear and informative prose.
The 19th century Gothic Revival had virtually run its course soon after Wardell’s death. Anthony Evans is no admirer of what he calls the ‘concrete barbarism’ found in some modern, post-Vatican II churches.
While I understand what he means and partly share his views, I find his attack a little extreme. One can understand why he would be no admirer of new Cathedrals like those in Liverpool and Los Angeles but I trust he would see merit in such a remarkable building as the restored St Patrick’s Cathedral, Parramatta. And what would he say about Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia basilica in Barcelona – neither post-Vatican II (for the greater part) nor Gothic, but a unique and overwhelming modern expression of faith?
At a time when the Archbishops of Sydney and Melbourne are taking further steps to ensure that William Wardell’s contribution to their respective Sees receives more recognition, this first-rate biography, which both George Pell and Denis Hart have subsidised, contributes much to achieving their aim.
– The Catholic Weekly, Sydney
Built With Conviction is available from The Record Bookshop for $39.95 + postage
and handling.