St Anselm, Kennington

 

St Anselm is located where Kennington Lane and Kennington Road cross, and so must compete with traffic rushing past day and night. Just getting there can be a challenge. But it is a surprise - an inter-war church with some interesting modernist sculpture.

Originally a mission church, the foundation stone of the present building was laid by the Prince of Wales in 1914, but work stopped almost immediately because of the First World War. When it recommenced, the original design - based on a Latin Cross with an elaborate dome - was reduced owing to lack of funds. The present simple basilica design, in stock brick with stone detailing, was completed in 1933.

The interior is described in the listing by English Heritage as "barn-like", and so it is: a vast single chamber with foreshortened aisles of three bays, all with sheer walls. The dark and windowless east end is particularly unforgiving, but there are exciting plans to redevelop this, inserting a gallery, which will surely add some much some needed structure, interest, and light.

Nevertheless, the building has some wonderful detailing. This starts at the main entrance door (see below), where the tympanum depicts St Anselm flanked by a lion and a lamb. The work is by modernist sculptor Alfred Horace Gerrard RBS (1899 – 1998), professor of sculpture at the Slade School of Fine Art 1949-1968. He also carved the four charming and unusually decorative capitals of the arcade, each depicting different animals: birds, foxes, owls, and - appropriately for a church - bats.

The vast space of the side walls is broken up by a series of huge abstract murals painted in 1971 by Norman Adams (1927-2005). The parish's website explains that their subject is the "idea of a progression from every day, material experience towards spiritual existence in Paradise" inspired by the The Pilgrim's Progress. Known for the spiritual intensity of his work, at the time Adams regarded these as his major achievement, although they are much darker in tone than many of his better-known works. (To me, they are reminiscent of Blake, and something of an acquired taste.)

My favourite piece, however, is the font (see top). The depiction of Christ with Angels, carved in high relief by Derrick Frith (a scion of the Frith family of sculptors and artists), is a wonderfully tender piece.

St Anselm's is part of the North Lambeth parish, is an inclusive church with informal and traditional worship, and serves this diverse inner-city community through a variety of outreach activities.

St Anselm, Kennington Road, London SE11 5DU