A theatre for the soul : St. George’s Church, Jesmond : the building and cultural reception of a late-Victorian church

PhD ThesisSt. George's church (Osborne Road), Jesmond, Newcastle-upon-Tyne (1885-1891), is a Grade-I listed building, notable for its ambitious scale, unity of conception, and the quality and elaboration of its interior decoration. Commissioned and furnished in its entirety by the influential Tyneside ship-builder Charles Mitchell (1820-1895), a senior partner in the powerful armaments and engineering conglomerate of Sir W.G. Armstrong, Mitchell & Co., St. George's was the magnum opus of the little-known architect and artist-craftsman Thomas Ralph Spence (1845-1918). Although recognised from the first as a significant artistic achievement, and despite Sir Nikolaus Pevsner's high estimation of the church – 'Very restrained in the details… expensive and tasteful decoration, very progressive in style for its date… Arts and Crafts approaching Art Nouveau' – Spence's masterpiece has not to date received anything like an extended analysis. The present study aims to re-evaluate the significance of the church, primarily in the light of recent readings in late-Victorian ecclesiology and the cultural context of North-East England. The study also collates and analyses for the first time much of the extensive archival material – including important documentation previously unavailable – correlating this with a close reading of the built fabric and with reference to local artisanal and industrial practice. St. George's offered a fresh paradigm for Anglican church-building in the North-East of England, embodying the hopes of a newly established diocese, in one of the fastest growing industrial conurbations of late-nineteenth century Britain. It was, appropriately, the first large-scale demonstration of the aims of the newly founded Art Worker's Guild, and of the latest ideas stemming from 'new art' designers on the Continent. More so than their 'display' houses, Mitchell's church signalled the cosmopolitan interests yet fiercely regional pride of Armstrong's men, one of the most significant (and controversial) groupings of late-Victorian industrialists

A theatre for the soul : St. George's Church, Jesmond : the building and cultural reception of a late-Victorian church

St. George's church (Osborne Road), Jesmond, Newcastle-upon-Tyne (1885-1891), is a Grade-I listed building, notable for its ambitious scale, unity of conception, and the quality and elaboration of its interior decoration. Commissioned and furnished in its entirety by the influential Tyneside ship-builder Charles Mitchell (1820-1895), a senior partner in the powerful armaments and engineering conglomerate of Sir W.G. Armstrong, Mitchell & Co., St. George's was the magnum opus of the little-known architect and artist-craftsman Thomas Ralph Spence (1845-1918). Although recognised from the first as a significant artistic achievement, and despite Sir Nikolaus Pevsner's high estimation of the church – 'Very restrained in the details… expensive and tasteful decoration, very progressive in style for its date… Arts and Crafts approaching Art Nouveau' – Spence's masterpiece has not to date received anything like an extended analysis. The present study aims to re-evaluate the significance of the church, primarily in the light of recent readings in late-Victorian ecclesiology and the cultural context of North-East England. The study also collates and analyses for the first time much of the extensive archival material – including important documentation previously unavailable – correlating this with a close reading of the built fabric and with reference to local artisanal and industrial practice. St. George's offered a fresh paradigm for Anglican church-building in the North-East of England, embodying the hopes of a newly established diocese, in one of the fastest growing industrial conurbations of late-nineteenth century Britain. It was, appropriately, the first large-scale demonstration of the aims of the newly founded Art Worker's Guild, and of the latest ideas stemming from 'new art' designers on the Continent. More so than their 'display' houses, Mitchell's church signalled the cosmopolitan interests yet fiercely regional pride of Armstrong's men, one of the most significant (and controversial) groupings of late-Victorian industrialists.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

A Case of Spontaneous Intestinal Perforation in Osteogenesis Imperfecta

A 51-year-old male with known osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) (type 1) presented with symptoms and signs of infective endocarditis. Transthoracic echocardiography showed chordal rupture and free mitral regurgitation, resulting in an emergency mitral valve repair. The surgical procedure was largely uneventful but subsequent clinical course on the intensive care unit was complicated by bowel perforation requiring two laparatomies for a colonic resection and loop ileostomy formation. Histology of the excised tissue demonstrated absent musculature with no evidence of ischemia. Spontaneous non-ischemic bowel perforation as a complication of osteogenesis imperfecta is to date unreported. Our case highlights the need for a high index of suspicion of non-ischemic bowel perforation in patients with connective tissue disorders

Gymnosperms on the EDGE

Driven by limited resources and a sense of urgency, the prioritization of species for conservation has been a persistent concern in conservation science. Gymnosperms (comprising ginkgo, conifers, cycads, and gnetophytes) are one of the most threatened groups of living organisms, with 40% of the species at high risk of extinction, about twice as many as the most recent estimates for all plants (i.e. 21.4%). This high proportion of species facing extinction highlights the urgent action required to secure their future through an objective prioritization approach. The Evolutionary Distinct and Globally Endangered (EDGE) method rapidly ranks species based on their evolutionary distinctiveness and the extinction risks they face. EDGE is applied to gymnosperms using a phylogenetic tree comprising DNA sequence data for 85% of gymnosperm species (923 out of 1090 species), to which the 167 missing species were added, and IUCN Red List assessments available for 92% of species. The effect of different extinction probability transformations and the handling of IUCN data deficient species on the resulting rankings is investigated. Although top entries in our ranking comprise species that were expected to score well (e.g. Wollemia nobilis, Ginkgo biloba), many were unexpected (e.g. Araucaria araucana). These results highlight the necessity of using approaches that integrate evolutionary information in conservation science