Sidney H. Barnsley (1863-1926)

Details
Sidney H. Barnsley (1863-1926)

Designs for the Church of the Wisdom of God, Lower Kingswood, Reigate, Surrey: Sections; Plans and Elevations; Designs for the Pulpit and Lectern; and Alternative Designs for the Font

nine signed, eight dated variously January-July 1892, six numbered 1-6, the majority with scale, pen and black ink, seven with watercolour, six on tracing paper, unframed
20¼ x 26½in. (515 x 673mm.) and smaller; a drawing of a male nude and four photographs of the interior and exterior of the church (13)

Lot Essay

The Church of the Wisdom of God, or St Sophia, Lower Kingswood was designed by Barnsley in 1891 in a free Byzantine style. It actually incorporates original Byzantine elements, including capitals brought from churches at Ephesus and Constantinople. Pevsner, in his Buildings of England (Surrey, 1962, pp. 61, 288-9), rates the building highly , calling it 'as extraordinary as its Byzantine contents', a church 'where the architect cut through the Gordian knot of styles and simply produced style. This is a fresh, unaffected, and extremely religious-feeling building which cannot be pigeon-holed, only appreciated'

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