The University of Warwick Chamber Choir performed at St James' Church on
the Packington Estate in support of children and young people with cancer at
the third charitable musical evening organised by the Worsted Weavers' Guild.
The outstanding Chamber Choir, led by its Conductor Lucy Griffiths, performed
Spiritual and Shakespeare song cycles and A Child of Our Time. The programme
was enhanced by an impromptu series of solos and duets by scholarship students
within the Choir. The performance was followed by a reception in the Pompeiian room
at Packington Hall, with wine, soft drinks and canapes. Use of St James' Church
and the Pompeiian Hall was by kind permission of Lord and Lady Aylesford.
CLIC Sargent Fundraising Manager Lydia Buckmaster said: "It's great
that the Worsted Weavers supported CLIC Sargent again with this fantastic
event.
Concert organiser and Past Master of the Worsted Weavers Guild of
Coventry Donald Singer said: “The Guild supported CLIC Sargent for a
3rd year because of its excellent clinical and practical work, both nationally
and locally, to help the whole family deal with the impact of cancer and its
treatment on children and young people.
“Our guest musicians – the University of Warwick Chamber Choir and their
conductor Lucy Griffiths – provided an outstanding musical evening in the
dramatic setting of St James’ Church on the Packington Estate, which was made
available through the generosity of Earl and Lady Aylesford. We are very
grateful to everyone who supported the charity, both by coming to the event and
by donations to CLIC Sargent. We look forward to our fourth charity concert, to
be held in the summer of 2017, once again in support of CLIC Sargent.”
To find out how you or your company could help support CLIC Sargent,
please contact CLIC Sargent Fundraising Manager Lydia Buckmaster on 01509 673
881 or email: lydia.buckmaster@clicsargent.org.uk
St James' Church
St James’ Church is a red brick building with four domes topped by
finials in neo-classical style. The church was built in 1789 to a design by
architect Joseph Bonomi for the Earl of Aylesford as a private family chapel
and to celebrate the return to sanity of King George III. Its design was
inspired by the Baths of Diocletian in Rome. The church houses an organ built in
1749 by Thomas Parker to designs by Handel in 1749 for his librettist Charles
Hennens, who was the cousin of the 4th Earl of Aylesford. There is evidence to
suggest that Handel himself played the organ. The church does not belong to a
parish – it is owned and maintained by the Aylesford family. The church is a
Grade I listed building.
Joseph Bonomi
The church’s architect Joseph Bonomi was born on 19th January 1739 in
Rome. He was the first of five children born to Giovanni Giacomo Bonomi and his
wife Teresa Corbi and was christened Giuseppe [portrait by John Francis Rigaud
(see below) - Public Catalogue Foundation]. He was educated at the Collegio
Romano and studied architecture with Girolamo Teodoloi, a nobleman and
successful Roman Architect. Bomomi was clearly talented and impressed Robert
and James Adam when they visited Rome. This resulted in an invitation for
Bonomi to move to London in 1767. Joseph Bonomi worked as a draughtsman for the
Adam brothers and later as an assistant to the Architect Thomas Leverton. In
1775 he married Rosa Florini a cousin of the painter Angelica Kauffman. In 1783
Angelica persuaded Bonomi to move back to Rome where she was then living but it
was only a short stay and he returned to London in 1784 with his family, remaining
there for the rest of his life.
In 1784 his earliest known independent work was carried out. From this
date he became a successful designer of country houses in England. In 1789 he
was elected an associate of the Royal Academy with the help of his friend
Joshua Reynolds, President of the Academy. He exhibited a number of perspective
drawings at the Royal Academy exhibitions.He is also nationally known for the
Pyramid Mausoleum at Bickling Park, Norfolk for the Earl of Buckinghamshire in
1794. In 1804 he was appointed Architect of St Peter’s Rome but this was
probably an honorary post as no evidence has been found of him working there.
In 1808 at the age of 69 he died in London and was buried in Marylebone
Cemetery. His son Ignatius Bonomi also became a successful architect. His work
in Warwickshire includes: • Design of the gallery at Packington Hall for the
Earl of Aylesford in 1772. • St James Church in Packington Park for the Earl of
Aylesford in 1789-92 • The redesign of Barrells Hall at Ullenhall for the
Newton Family in 1792.
The Pompeiian room
The Pompeiian room, hall, music room, staircase, dining room, library
and small dining room all have schemes designed by Bonomi. The music room
originally housed the organ (now in the church) which was played by Handel. The
Pompeian room was intended as a sculpture gallery but was remodelled by Bonomi
as a setting for the Etruscan vases collected by the 4th Earl. The Roman wall
paintings in the Pompeiian Room are by John Francis Rigaud, a history, portrait
and decorative painter of French descent who studied painting in Florence and
in Bologna. Rigaud was born in Turin, his father’s family having first fled
from Lyon to Geneva after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. Within a year
of arriving to work in England, Rigaud was made a fellow of the Royal Academy
and went on in London to decorate Somerset House, the Guildhall and Trinity
House. His portraits included paintings of Sir Joshua Reynolds, Lord Nelson and
St James’ Church architect John Bonomi. Rigaud was elected to the Royal Society
in 1784.
Capability Brown
2016 is the 300th anniversary of the birth of Lancelot 'Capability'
Brown, the most influential English landscape gardener in history. “He changed
the face of eighteenth century England, designing country estates and mansions,
moving hills and making flowing lakes and serpentine rivers …” [1]. As epitaph
Horace Walpole wrote [2]: “Brown shall enjoy unsullied fame For many a Paradise
he regained” Brown is associated with more than 250 landscapes across England
and Wales. He often described landscapes as having “great capabilities”, hence
“Capability”. By using the sunken fence or ‘ha-ha’ he gave the illusion that
discrete areas of parkland, though managed quite differently, were one. The 300
acres of magnificent parkland surrounding Packington Hall were landscaped by
Capability Brown in 1751, at the height of his career, when in his
mid-thirties. Packington Hall is one of a group of sites in Warwickshire at
which Brown advised in the mid and late 18th century. These include Charlecote
Park, Compton Verney, Combe Abbey, Newnham Paddox, and Warwick Castle. Lancelot
Brown [portrait (in public domain) by Nathaniel Dance (later Sir Nathaniel
Dance-Holland, Bt)] was baptised on 30th Aug 1716 at Kirkharle in
Northumberland.
He was the fifth of the six children of yeoman farmer William
Brown, and Ursula who worked in the big house on the Kirkharle estate, where
Brown began work as a gardener. It was while working at Stowe gardens that he
first became responsible for executing architectural and landscaping works.
While at Stowe, Brown also began working as an independent landscape designer,
contractor and architect. In 1744, he married Bridget Wayet, with whom he went
on to have 9 children. In autumn 1751, the year he worked on landscaping the
Packington Estate, he was able to move with his family to Hammersmith in
London. Brown offered a range of options to clients: a) for a round number of
guineas, a survey and plans for buildings and landscape, leaving his client to
do the work; b) a foreman to oversee the work, carried out by estate labour. c)
overseeing and refining the work himself, by visits for a certain number of
days each year. By 1753, he was employing four foremen and by the end of the
decade he had over twenty foremen on his books. In 1764 he was appointed to the
gardens of Hampton Court, Richmond and St James, allowing him to move home to
live in style at Wilderness House, Hampton Court. Throughout his life, Brown
suffered from asthma, the possible cause of his death in 1783.
1. Find out more at capabilitybrown.org
2. “Capability Brown” by Dorothy Stroud. 1975, Faber and Faber. ISBN 0
571 10267 0
CLIC Sargent – the Children’s Cancer Charity
The children’s cancer charity CLIC Sargent is the UK’s leading cancer
charity for children and young people, and their families. CLIC Sargent
provides clinical, practical, financial and emotional support to help them cope
with cancer and get the most out of life. Lydia Buckmaster, Fundraising Manager
for CLIC Sargent for Herefordshire, Northamptonshire, Warwickshire and
Worcestershire said: “ Last year CLIC Sargent helped to support over 1100
children and young people with cancer in the Midlands. It costs CLIC Sargent
around £4,000 to support each child or young person through their cancer
journey. To continue to do this we must raise a significant amount of money
each year and we can currently only support 2 out of 3 of these children and
young people.” “Today, 10 children and young people in the UK will hear the
shocking news that they have cancer.
Treatment normally starts immediately, is often given many miles from
home and can last for up to three years. Being diagnosed with cancer is a
frightening experience and the emotional, practical and financial implications
of treatment are intensely challenging for the whole family.” CLIC Sargent is
the UK’s leading charity for children and young people with cancer. CLIC
Sargent’s mission is to change what it means to be diagnosed with cancer when
you’re young. We believe that children and young people with cancer have the
right to the best possible treatment, care, and support, throughout their
cancer journey and beyond. And they deserve the best possible chance to make
the most of their lives once cancer treatment has ended. CLIC Sargent provides
vital emotional, practical and financial support to young cancer patients and
families during and after treatment, and we take what they tell us about the
impact of cancer on their lives to service providers and policy makers to help
change things for the better.
Worsted Weavers’ Guild of Coventry
The history of merchant guilds in Coventry goes back at least to 1267.
The original roles of the guilds included providing training for their
professions and ensuring the quality of what was produced. The National
Archives record a Company of Worsted Weavers, Coventry, from circa 1448; and a
Company and Fellowship of Worsted Weavers and Silk Weavers, City of Coventry,
from 1628. In 1703 the worsted weavers of Coventry, whose trade was then
improving, were separated from the silk weavers to form their own company as a
member of the guilds of the city. In modern times the Worsted Weavers and other
guilds of the City of Coventry continue in a charitable role.
