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St Martin’s Blackheath

Murals Restoration Appeal

£75,000 needed for repairs and restoration

Click the link to see this file in pdf

The historic church of in the middle of Blackheath contains a series of unique murals painted by Anna Lea Merritt between 1893 and 1895. The paintings have survived over 110 years in remarkably good condition overall, but damage has occurred which needs attention, and the fabric of the building must also be made more secure to protect them from any future deterioration. We are caretakers of our heritage and believe that we should make every effort to pass it on to future generations in good condition.

The article below explains the historical significance of the paintings. There will be an exhibition in the church about Anna Lea Merritt and the paintings for two weeks starting with the Blackheath Fair on 5^th May, and an Appeal stall outside the church on the day of the Fair where we will encourage people to sponsor the restoration of the murals.

There will be a reception in Blackheath Village Hall on 18th June for people interested in supporting the Appeal, when local Art historian Olive Maggs will give a talk about the paintings.

Our target is to raise £75,000 and subject to raising the necessary money, we want to carry out the following works:

· investigate and deal with the cause of some minor cracking and damage to the murals

· restore and clean the murals

· investigate and deal with two parts of the building which have particular damp problems

· remove the emulsion paint which has been used in the past on the church walls

· redecorate with permeable paint to enable rising damp to escape

· upgrade the heating and lighting in the church so that the paintings can be properly enjoyed.

Any donations should be made payable to the St Martin’s Appeal Fund, and sent to David Allen, ……………………….. He can also be contacted at david@allen32.freeserve.co.uk

Christ on the Mount of Olives	Virgin and Child - detail	The Resurrection

Interior of St Martin’s Church	Raising the widow’s son

Arts and Crafts Church

Murals by first woman artist acquired by Tate Gallery

The Church of St. Martin in Blackheath is an outstanding example of 19^th century Victorian Arts and Crafts architecture. It was designed, and then built in 1893, by the celebrated architect Harrison Townsend, who is best remembered for designing two of the most important Arts and Crafts buildings in Britain, the Whitechapel Art gallery (1897) and the Horniman Museum (1898).

The church sits within the attractive village of Blackheath, near Guildford, where Harrison Townsend also built a substantial number of houses during the last two decades of the 19^th century. The church of St Martin represents the combined efforts of the enlightened patronage of Sir William Roberts-Austin, the architect Harrison Townsend and the artist Anna Lea Merritt. These three came together between the years 1893 and 1895 to produce something very special which is now part of our Arts and Crafts architecture, and our Victorian painting, heritage.

The walls of St Martin’s Church are decorated with unique murals painted by the American born artist Anna Lea Merritt (1844-1930). A versatile artist and writer, Merritt was born in Philadelphia to an affluent Quaker family, but studied art in London under the painter and restorer, Henry Merritt. She later married him and spent much of her life in England achieving an international reputation and winning awards in Philadelphia, Chicago, London and Paris. She exhibited regularly in both the Royal Academy and the Paris Salon – an outstanding accomplishment for a woman artist at this time.

Recognition in England for Anna Lea Merritt came in 1890 when her painting ‘Love Locked Out’ was purchased by the Chantry Bequest for the Tate Gallery collection, where it still hangs today - the first work by a woman artist to be presented to the nation and all the more remarkable at the time since it depicted a nude.

Painted between 1893 and 1895, the St Martin’s murals represent the new trend in mural painting in the second half of the 19th century. They depict scenes from the life of Christ in light, pale colours interpreting Merritt’s belief that true religious feelings bring with them cheer and hope. Each of the scenes is set within a garden reflecting the connection between the artist, the Pre-Raphaelite movement and their interest in nature

The St Martin’s murals are unique for two particular reasons. Firstly they were painted using the new process of soluble silicates and metallic oxides to aid preservation. The process, invented by Adolph Kheim in Munich, involved painting on dry plaster to resist damp. Merritt and Roberts-Austin presented a paper on this new technique to the Society of Artists in 1895. As far as we can tell the murals have indeed survived the damp for over 110 years without significant discoloration. Although they are now in need of some restoration and repair, they have remained surprisingly true to their original colours as shown in a preliminary sketch by Anna Lea Merritt which is in the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington DC.

Secondly they are the only surviving example of mural work by Anna Lea Merritt from the end of the 19th century and represent an outstanding achievement for a woman artist at that time. Merritt’s work has recently been the focus of renewed interest and attention, for her success as a painter of historical, classical, and literary subjects as well as portraits, in a Tate Britain exhibition and publication.

Olive Maggs

March 2008

Angel with Chalice	St John the Baptist	St Martin as Bishop of Tours	Angel with Crown of Life

We are looking to raise at least £75,000. If you wish to support St Martin’s please have a look at the page on Giving to the Church. We also need to increase the regular giving to the church to meet our contribution towards the Parish Share of the Parish and contribution to the parish ministry, as well as the regular running costs of St Martins.

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