the building of king's college theological hostel in
TRANSCRIPT
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The building of King's College Theological Hostel in Vincent Square
by Richard Barton (2021)
In October 1976, at the age of eighteen, I arrived on the doorstep of King’s College Theological
College in Vincent Square. It became my home for two years before I moved on to the Catholic
Chaplaincy in Gower Street. I suppose I took the building for granted then but in more recent
years I have come to appreciate how fortunate I was to have experienced living at ‘The
Square’ with its chapel, elegant dining hall and convenient library. This brief account of the
construction of the building also gives me the opportunity to showcase a handful of postcards
and newspaper cuttings that I have collected over the years.
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‘With the approval of the Council and of the Bishops of London, Rochester and St Albans, a
Hostel was established in October 1902, under the wardenship of Professor Newsom, for those
Theological Students who wish for the advantages of a common life …’ (Calendar 1935-36)
The centenary history of King’s College, written by Hearnshaw, explains why the Hostel was
erected as well as how the project was achieved:
‘This same period, moreover, saw a noteworthy advance in the provision of hostel
accommodation for students of the college who could not live at home. The theologians
already had their hostel in Mecklenburgh Square. For ten years (1902-1912) it served an
invaluable purpose; but it was obviously a mere makeshift. It was too small; it was
inconvenient; it was not well situated. Hence the Council rejoiced when in 1912 they received
from the ecclesiastical commissioners the offer, on very favourable terms, of an excellent plot
of land in Vincent Square, Westminster. The offer was accepted; plans were prepared by Mr
Arthur Martin; a Mansion House meeting for the raising of a building fund was held on
November 4, 1912, and speedily £7000 was contributed – a small sum compared with the
lavish wealth that flowed in the direction of home science, but enough to warrant a start.’
The architect, Arthur Campbell Martin CVO FRIBA, was born on 20 August 1875. He was the
grandson of Dr George Moberly, headmaster of Winchester and later Bishop of Salisbury. He
was brother to William Keble Martin, and was also connected to John and Thomas Keble of
the Oxford Movement. His father had been appointed as the Rector of Dartington, near
Totnes.
Martin commenced independent practice as an architect in London, in 1898 and designed a
number of country houses and churches.
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Martin’s design for the hostel was substantial in scale, with elevations onto both Vincent
Square and Rochester Row. The left wing of the building, when viewed from Vincent Square,
was added in 1928-9. It was constructed in red brick, with substantial stone base and has a
somewhat eclectic architectural treatment, with Tudor Gothic influences, notably in the tall
chimney stacks and the eye-catching stone mullioned and transomed window on the splayed
northern corner elevation. On the Vincent Square elevation, some of the detailing exhibits
greater Classical influence, notably in the stone-dressed surrounds to both the doors on this
elevation.
The Building News: September 12, 1913: Theological Hostel, Vincent Square, S.W., For King’s
College, London
‘The contractors for the foundations of this building were Messrs. Dove Bros. and for the
superstructure, Messrs Foster and Dicksee. The materials are as follows: Facing bricks are 3 ¼
by 9in., varying in colour with red quoins. The stone is brown Portland. The Hostel is intended
for residential purposes only, and no lectures will be given there. Each of the sixty students has
a bed-sitting room, while there are ample common rooms and a large dining hall on the
ground floor. The east block, which is now being erected, contains a private house for the
Warden and rooms for two resident tutors are provided in the main building. The west block
will contain another ten rooms, a large library, and, on the top floor (sic), a chapel. Funds do
not allow for all this being built yet. The foundation stone was laid on May 6 last by H.R.H.
Princess Louise (Duchess of Argyll). The building is to be open for students on October 1. Mr.
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Arthur C. Martin, F.R.I.B.A., 11, Hart Street, W.C. is the architect. The foundations rest on
concrete piers reaching to ballast found 16ft below ground level. Basement level 5ft. below
ground, was as low as was possible, on account of the shallowness of the sewer. This drawing
was shown at the Royal Academy this Summer.’
The Sphere, May 3rd 1913: Changes in Old Westminster – A new Theological Hostel among
Ancient Almshouses
‘King’s College Hostel for theological students is now rapidly rising on the site of some old
houses recently pulled down in Rochester Row.’
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Illustrated London News, 17th May 1913, 716: Laying of the Foundation Stone
‘“Not in Iona, but at Westminster”: Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll, laying the Foundation-
Stone of the new King’s College Hostel for Theological Students in Vincent Square. The
ceremony took place on May 6. The Dean of the Theological Faculty of King’s College, Dr.
Caldecott, in his address, said that the hostel was “not conceived in the spirit of the cloister. It
was not situated in Iona, nor in Lindisfarne … but at Westminster.” The Duke of Argyll later
made a humorous allusion to this remark. He said he was sorry to hear it mentioned, as a
matter of congratulation, that they were not located at Iona. He could promise them as much
rain there, and perhaps cheaper land, and he would promise them free land if they wanted a
library at Iona.’
Hearnshaw: ‘The foundation-stone of the building was laid on May 6 1913, by the Princess
Louise, and so rapid was the progress made that on November 8 of the same year fifty-two
students were able to go into residence. The formal opening took place on February 26, 1914,
when the Bishop of London presided over a distinguished assembly. Of course only a portion
of the projected building was then completed, and even this cost £4000 over and above the
subscriptions in hand; the estimated cost of the whole was over £28,000. The completion of
the architect’s fine design has had to wait for sixteen years: it is one of the outstanding
features of the centenary alterations.’
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Dr Gordon Huelin mentioned, in his sesquicentennial history of King’s College, London, that
the iron railings around the hostel were removed to help the war effort. After hostilities ended
the new Dean, Eric Abbott, approached the architect, Mr. Martin, to have the temporary
unsightly fence replaced by a stone wall with a gateway. For this major improvement the
Hostel was awarded an architectural prize.
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It is said that the architect’s overall design for the Hostel was so highly thought of, as also was
his work at Sandhurst, that he was given the contract for the new St Olave’s in Mitcham. This
church took its dedication from the redundant church of St. Olave’s, Tooley Street. The church
building, consecrated in 1931, was never completed as its architect intended: his proposed
design incorporated a further bay at the west end of the nave, an Italianate bell tower and a
Lady Chapel. The completed church would have seated about five hundred people. Another
church of his, also in south London, is St Luke, Pentridge Street, Camberwell. This is a late
work, built from 1953 and finished by others, but like St Olave’s it is large, brick [and]neo-
Byzantine. But there is a proper tower over the crossing, and it gives the later building a single
strong vertical element that is absent at St Olave’s in its present state.
Other ecclesiastical projects include work at St John the Baptist, Egham; St Mary Magdalene,
Flaunden and St Mary the Virgin, Clifton Reynes. Arthur Campbell Martin died on 2 July 1963.
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Chapel 1976
The Chapel, 1976
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Dr Gordon Huelin commented on the chapel at Vincent Square in his sesquicentennial history:
The Chapel forming an important part of its life has over the years undergone a number of
alterations and improvements, the most recent of which involved the re-modelling of its
sanctuary, with the provision of a free-standing altar-table, symbolic silver cross and
candlesticks being the work of Mr Louis Osman F.R.I.B.A., and made possible through the
Goldsmiths’ Company.’
The mantrap Cross was commissioned in 1967 by Sydney Evans, the Warden of the Hostel
and Dean of King’s College. Jenny Moore, has written about it in her 2006 book, ‘Louis Osman
(1914-1996)’:
‘Louis made this mantrap to hang above a bean-shaped silver and Perspex altar (which he also
made) for the chapel in Vincent Square for King’s College theological students. The chapel was
plain and the Osman trio of altar, candlesticks and cross made an astonishing impression...
During Lent each year, the palm frond, which holds the spring of the cross, is removed and the
jaws of the cross snap shut. It is then replaced for Easter, as Christians celebrate the
resurrected Christ once more separating the jaws of evil.’
‘The Man Trap’ from Jenny Moore's excellent book