The Pilgrim Doors,
Southwark Cathedral Millenium Building, London
The Architect, Richard Griffiths,
asked if I would be interested to undertake a commission
for Southwark Cathedral. I agreed that I would. In his
written brief for the main entrance doors to the New
Millennium Building, the Dean, The Reverend Colin Slee,
specified that the ornamentation of the doors should
embody the idea of Pilgrimage. Pilgrims have long been
associated with Southwark’s Cathedral
and the Borough, the most famous being those described
by Chaucer in the Canterbury Tales.
A door or doorway is symbolic of both departure and arrival.
Pilgrimage is the undertaking of a journey, the leaving
one place with the intention of arriving at another, particular,
destination. Most travellers require a map, so the idea
of pilgrims and maps became the theme for the doors.
The ancient Borough of Southwark
and its Cathedral, an institution crucially central to
the life of the parish, are depicted on many beautiful
historic maps. Four of these maps appear on the glass
panels of the doors. They chart the presence and position
of the Cathedral from the 16th century to the present
day. The Cathedral now appears in the London A to Z,
a familiar reference to every Londoner and a multitude
of visitors. The central panels of the door carry the
names of the old streets and trades of Southwark which
are deeply incised into the glass, as clearly printed
as in the A to Z. The history of the parish can be traced
through these names; they have their own beauty, rhythm
and logic. A gold inlay enhances and indicates the unchanging
relation of the Cathedral to its parish. Two door handles,
turned from phosphor bronze bar, represent the pilgrim’s
staff. This ancient symbol can be clearly understood: it
is the support, the aid and the mark of the pilgrim traveller.
The staff is carried in the hand from beginning to end
of the pilgrim’s journey. The new doors of the Cathedral
celebrate the idea of pilgrimage as both an ancient and
a contemporary concept.
DOOR PANELS
GLASS AND GOLD LEAF
DOOR HANDLES
PHOSPHOR BRONZE
2000/2002
SOUTHWARK CATHEDRAL MILLENNIUM BUILDING, LONDON
11 GLASS PANELS, VARIOUS SIZES: 6 AT 56 X 56 CM; 2 AT 280
X 27 CM; 3 AT 60 X 78 CM APPROX
BRONZE DOOR HANDLES: 200 X 10 CM
PHOTOGRAPHS: GEORGE GAMME
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The Pilgrim Doors, Southwark Cathedral Millenium Building, London
Art
for the lettered glass of The Pilgrim Doors
Detail of the glass for the Pilgrim Doors of Southwark Cathedral
Millenium Building, London
Close up of the door handles for The Pilgrim Doors, Southwark
Cathedral Millenium Building. London |
