Witley Court

Imagine finding a Baroque church  with ornate interior in regular use next to a huge stately home ravaged by fire in 1937, in the middle of the country! St Michael and All Angels Witley Court!
The church was originally built in two years (1733-5) to the west of the Court by Thomas, 2nd Lord Foley to designs possibly by James Gibbs (1682-1754). It had a plain brick exterior to match the  Court as it was then. It has always been a parish church rather than a family chapel.

In 1747 something remarkable happened. The Duke of Chandos had built his great house at Canons, at Stanmore, norh London. THis included a chapel designed by James Gibbs built before 1719. After that he had lost a  fortune and after his death in 1744 the estate at Canons had to be solf off. Foley found out about the chapel and bought  the box pews, several ceiling paintings by Antonio Bellucci (1654-1726), 10 stained glass windows  in 38 sections filling 5 crates, and the ornamental organ case of the instrument played by Handel.  The paintings could be moved because they were on canvas and could be rolled up. The plasterwork by Giovanni Bagutti could not be dismounted so detailed drawings and moulds were made so they could be recreated at Witley by Italian stucco workers. Therefore elaborate plasterwork  replaced the original ceiling at Witley, suspended by a timber framework. They needed to lighten the weight of this ceiling so they employed a new invention - papier mache - by Henry Clay of Birmingham, and therefore some of what we see today employs guilded papier mache.

Luckily the church at Witley was roughly the same size as the Canons chapel. The windows required wooden frames to hold them with a golden yellow border at the bottom to fit the required space.

The disastrous fire at the Court in 1937 led to problems and decline and it was only in the 1960s that parish members took the initiative to renovate. The major restoration of 1993-4 was followed by the cupola repair and guilding of the dome in 2004/5.

Perhaps we may regret the loss of the box pews and their replacement by Victorian pews. Alas the organ pipes went elsewhere and what you hear today is a rebuild by Nicholson of Worcester from 1860. However it is a remarkbale interior and anyone who has loved the Stanmore church should not miss this one!

Look at that organ case! (Flickr : Ed Jeavens)

What an interior (Flickr bv14092)

Exterior view  (Flickr : Richard Wise)

Look at that ceiling (Fickr bvl4092)