The Parishioner - Edition 25

The PARISHIONER Revisited.The first of a series of articles from past PARISHIONERS you may have missed. This one is thestory of the making of the Stations of the Cross, now in St Francis’ Church and their restorationin 2006 (taken from Parishioners 1 and 13).Our Stations of the Cross – a unique work of Art.During the renovations and reconstructions in St. FrancisChurch over the years, many older parishioners may havebeen reminded of the major changes which took place in1954 when the original church was extended on both sidesand a porch and doorway constructed to the north side ofthe church facing the road (since replaced by the modernporch constructed in 1998). The architect was Mr. JohnPoltock, who was on the staff of the Rochester School ofArt. The whole extension cost £24,000 and increased to416 the number of seats in thechurch.Part of Mr. Poltock’sdesign was a representation ofSt Francis for the wall of thenew porch and hecommissioned his colleague,Miss Enid Edwards ARCACIAL, a tutor of embroideryand toymaking at theRochester art school, to makeit. She designed and fashionedthe figure of St. Francis out offine glove leather and padding,using her skill to mould theseinto exquisite shapes to resemble the figure of the saintand the birds and stars which would surround it. She useda mosaic of different colours and textures, stitched withsilk, to achieve the effect of shading and the folds of thefigure’s clothes. The features of the saint were drawn andpainted in and the halo was was worked in gold threadover black and gold leather, with pearls filling the spacesbetween the crossed leather pieces. When put on the wallof the porch the figure was illuminated by night, to beconstantly visible to passers-by walking along WeekStreet.The finished figure was so well received that MissEdwards was asked to produce a series of Stations of theCross for inside the church in the same style. The projectspread over the next few years, each station taking anaverage of six months to complete. Miss Edwards madethe figure of St. Francis and the Stations of the Crossentirely without assistance and in her spare time.Although she and Mr Poltock were non-Catholics, fewpeople could have been more enthusiastic than hey toperfect this original art technique and few would havespent so many painstaking hours to ensure the finestpossible results. Before even touching the leather, MissEdwards spent hours in her garden studio researchingdetails of the people who shared Christ’s life. She had toknow what they would have worn, their attitudes and theirfacial expressions. Many sketches were made before MissEdwards reached the point where she could selectmaterials. “I only use the best grade leathers”, she told areporter at the time. “and take great trouble to ensure theyare of the finest quality to stand the test of time”.The panel “Jesus dies on the Cross” was the first tobe unveiled on 10th of October 1955 during a visit to StFrancis’ Church by the then Archbishop of Southwark,Cyril Cowderoy, to confirm 180 young people.The figure of St.Francis was removed fromits site when the old porchwas demolished in 1997and can now be seen in thenew porch by the doors.Sadly, the birds and starswhich adorned the figureoriginally no longer existand are thought to havebeen used to repairdamage to the leatherworkon one of the Stations.Nevertheless, the figure ofthe Saint and our Stationsof the Cross remain a unique work of art – a continuingsource of inspiration and pride for the parish....By 2006, after 51 years of being exposed to dirt, dustand drying out, Miss Edward’s Stations of the Cross hadbecome seriously deteriorated and fragile and were inurgent need of repair. The parish was very fortunate to beable to call on the skills of Senora Nellie Sanchez, a giftedartist and restorer who agreed to take on the job. The worktook her many painstaking hours, as she had to clean theleather and replace a number of damaged pieces. Shealso repaired beading and stitching on the artwork andrestored faded painted sections. When finished, all thepanels were covered with glass by maintenance craftsmenat the time, Tony Gibbs and the late Chris Dowle, toprotect the artworks for many more years to come.12