Pointed Arches Circling the Globe
Mid 19th century England saw a flowering of Gothic Revivalism thanks to William Butterfield, George Gilbert Scott, William White and of course the Pugin dynasty. Across the Channel, things were pretty pointed too. At the dawn of the Second Empire, 200 churches were under construction in France. The Gothic style even enjoyed official State endorsement as Napoléon III garnered support among his Catholic clergy.
It’s 1854. The booming city of Lille is declared a diocese. Time for a church dedicated to a miraculous statue of the Virgin Mary behind an iron trellis. An international architectural competition is required. A diktat unsurprisingly declares the Basilica of Notre Dame de la Treille must be Gothic Revival. What can possibly go wrong? An English Protestant architect winning? Two years later, in the words of one assessor, “L’Angleterre qui a triomphé!” William Burges and his sidekick Henry Clutton take first prize. Quel désastre!
William Burges was the English master of polychromatic romanticism. Witness his slightly bonkers Tower House on Melbury Road, Kensington. A neo medieval mini fortress on an uppity middle class leafy avenue. Dated 1875 to 1881; styled 13th century French Gothic. Not your average architect’s home. But Lille was never to benefit from his Anglican boldness and brilliance. Silver medallist Cuthbert Brodrick’s submission would also remain unexecuted. Much curmudgeonly fudgery later the winner of the third price, the very French and very Catholic Charles Leroy was commissioned to complete the detailed design of the “Cathedral of the North of France” with its buttressed knuckle plan east facing radiating chapels.
The church was indeed upgraded to a cathedral with the establishment of the Lille Bishopric in 1913. But 34 years later the dosh had dried up and Monsieur Leroy’s twin peaked western approach was never executed. Fast forward to the 1990s and the entrance front was finally completed to the design of Lille architect Pierre-Louis Carlier and Irish engineer Peter Rice. Minimalist Gothic. A vast arched recess dominating the façade is filled with 28 millimetre thick white marble which appears opaque outside but allows orangey light to flood the interior. A rose window by painter Ladislas Kijno who lived in Pas-de-Calais illuminates the arch. Candles flicker among contemporary artworks. Overhead, a hanging reads: “Revenez à Dieu: Il Vous Appelle à la Vie en Jésus Christ!”
