The “Catholic architect” is in danger of extinction. It has now been 20 years since a Catholic church of note has been built in Britain. But for over two centuries previously, the tradition flourished. Prior to that, from the Reformation until the early 19th century, the notion of an English Catholic architect did not exist.
Catholic places of worship began discreetly to be built in the last half of the 18th century, an age when artists’ imaginations – in particular the architectural visionary Joseph Gandy – were awash with the rich possibilities of neo-classicism. These were mainly chapels of Catholic embassies or of Catholic noblemen; among the latter were the 9th Duke of Norfolk (Arundel), the 9th Lord Petre (Thorndon) and the 8th Lord Arundell (Wardour), and all in fact used the Anglican James Paine.
