A History of Giggleswick School from its Foundation, 1499 to 1912Bell, Edward Allen
History
A History of Giggleswick School from its Foundation, 1499 to 1912
Bell, Edward Allen
Giggleswick School (Giggleswick, England) -- History
Every style of Architecture makes its own peculiar appeal to mankind.
One kind of Church seems better adapted to the needs of Englishmen;
Eastern peoples prefer a different style. Mr. Morrison proposed to take
a distinctive feature of each and make them one. For the general
building he chose the Gothic style because, though not native to
England, it has imposed itself to an overwhelming extent on the Parish
Churches and Cathedrals of the country, and to it he added a Dome. There
is one feature that these two apparent opposites have in common. Gothic
Churches vary greatly, but many of them are notable for their appearance
of loftiness. The clustered columns seem to lead the eye upwards to the
roof, as if men naturally went about the world cramped and confined, and
were now bidden turn their gaze to the heights. A dome has a somewhat
similar effect: it carries on the gaze and it gives an increased and
unexpected vision. The bold union of the two has created a School
Chapel, which satisfies every wish. It is suited to the surrounding
country, it is possessed of great beauty, and it breathes the atmosphere
of worship.
But there is another consideration. One of the most striking
characteristics of boy-life is the feeling of personal possession.
Everything that is of importance has a personal aspect. Whatever a boy
sees belonging to his own School is at once invested with a curious
sanctity and defended with all the armour of pride. It is of supreme
importance that the side of school life, the religious side, which
sometimes appeals to a boy with a greater force than any other, should
have a building of its own. The Parish Church can never lay claim to the
same devotion, and therefore can never exercise the same influence. A
School Chapel develops a feeling of unity and brotherhood; such unity is
less possible in a Parish Church.
Buildings and surroundings have a power to mould character. It is the
big, silent things of life that often really move a man: the walls that
he can learn to love and know, and invest with life and memory. These
feelings are not recognized at the time, and it is well that they should
not be. Emotionalism and probing self-analysis are dread dangers. But
the memories of school in after life are not in the first instance
memories of friends, but of the places where those friends were met and
the friendships made. A boy's life is made up of moments and
impressions, and many of the indelible impressions of his youth are
formed in the School Chapel. Hence the gift of a beautiful School Chapel
is the greatest gift a man can give. Boys at Giggleswick have at their
right hand the natural glories of the Craven District, they have now
also a supreme example of the architect's skill and courage and success.
Environment is the keynote to the development of character. These boys
have the twofold opportunity of profiting from Nature and from Art.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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