COLEHERNE COURT IS a large block of flats located on the corner of Old Brompton Road and Redcliffe Gardens. The late Princess Diana lived there before she married Prince Charles. At the corner of the building there is an entrance surmounted by a carving of a bird with two heads each on a long neck.
A map surveyed in 1916 indicates that there was a bank at this corner, The two headed bird was probably above its entrance. The only British bank I know of that uses the double-headed eagle as its symbol is Hoare’s Bank. There may have been others, but I do not know about them.
If anybody knows any more about the double-headed bird on the corner of Coleherne Court, do please let me know.
HIDDEN IN A residential crescent, Philbeach Gardens, near Earls Court is a late Victorian church, whose exterior is far from attractive. However, St Cuthbert (completed 1888) has an interior which cannot fail to amaze the visitor’s eyes. The church contains what can only be described as an ‘over-the top’ array of decorative features. Some of them are typical of the Gothic Revival style beloved of Victorian church designers, and others that are typical of the Arts and Crafts Movement, which flourished in the last decades of the 19th and the first few of the 20th century.
One item in the church, which is particularly eye-catching, is made of wrought iron and hammered (repoussé) copper. It is a lectern with two large arms on either side of the leather-covered book holder. These are supports for large candles. The lectern is approached by a small set of stairs whose treads have studs on them. The studs are arranged to spell out words, which I found difficult to decipher. The part of the base facing the congregation is an intricately decorated folded screen with Arts and Crafts Style decorative motifs. Most probably handmade, the lectern, although fantastically crafted, has a very slightly amateurish look about it. It is more unusual and eye-catching than beautiful.
I would not have visited St Cuthbert had my friend, the excellent Olsi Qinami, not been conducting the London City Philharmonic Orchestra performing a concert there. The church with its colourful marble pillars and almost surreal interior is well worth a visit even if there is no concert being performed. It is a ‘must-see’ for lovers of Victorian church architecture.
yamey 