22nd January 2014
This is St. John the Baptist Church, Bamford in the Hope Valley, Derbyshire. The church was the subject of a major rebuild and restoration in1861 by the eminent architect, William Butterfield.
William Butterfield (1814-1900) was a Gothic Revival architect who was associated with the oxford movement.. Butterworth’s design for All Saints’ Church, Margaret Street, London, created a great stir (it is now considered to be one of the principal churches that introduced the High Victorian Gothic era). It was designed in 1850 by Butterworth and the exterior was completed by 1853. All Saints’ was unusual, at the time, for its use of red brick patterned with bands of black brick and an ornate of marble and tile. William Morris’ friend and inspiration John Ruskin had published Seven Lamps of Architecture 1849 which urged architects to study the Italian Gothic use of polychromy and Butterfield was known to be a follower of Ruskin.
Butterworth went on to design many major works in Britain and overseas, such as St Paul’s Cathedral, Melbourne, Australia and Keble College Chapel, Oxford. Butterfield also designed important many church artefacts such as the gold Chalice (1856-1857) which is in the V&A Museum.
Posted in William Morris by Laura