A Dorset Adventure
Giving light to the new year
A very happy New Year to everyone reading this post! I have been on my research travels again but this time I’ve stayed in Dorset and kept firmly on the (muddy) ground. This first post for 2024 has a focus on the chapel at Othona. So what was it that led me to head off to North Dorset, to a wooded hill, just outside the village of Milton Abbas…?
The Chapel at Othona West Dorset
The chapel at Othona is a much loved space for many who come to visit. For me, I have long been drawn to its simplicity, spaciousness and the sense of peace within it. I am so grateful that in recent years, through improvements such as underfloor heating and a wooden floor, it is a space that can be enjoyed, rather than endured, at any time of year.
In the days of Adela Curtis and her community here, having the chapel built was a great achievement, with many supporters donating towards the cost, as the plaque below demonstrates. You may be wondering who the ‘Wardens’ are: The Warden Maranatha is Adela Curtis herself; The Warden Christiana is Lily Cancellor, Adela’s greatest and closest friend (and the focus of the next post from me) and The Warden Emmanuel is Mary Goodwin.
There is a story told by her nieces that the architect had designed the chapel to hold 50 people but Adela wanted it to hold 100 and said, ‘Make it twice as big’, not realising that the architect would double its length!1
It was this photo and its caption, from an illustrated magazine article dated July 1939, that provided the clue, which led to my trip out to Milton Abbas in North Dorset. Those who have been to Othona will be familiar with the distinctive candelabra hanging from the beams. According to the magazine article, these were copied from St Catherine’s chapel. I had to go and see for myself!
St Catherine’s Chapel, Milton Abbas
One morning before Christmas, therefore, I drove over to Milton Abbas to meet Helier Exon, at Steeptonbill Farm Shop, from which it is a short walk through the woods to the chapel. Helier has had many years of worshipping in and looking after St Catherine’s Chapel, Milton Abbas. He very kindly took the time to show me the chapel inside and out and to share his knowledge and love of the history of the site and building.
The current St Catherine’s chapel is very old - originally built around 1170 - and has gone through ups and downs over the years. At one time it had been partitioned and made into 2 dwellings and there was another period when it was used as a wood store. However, eventually it was turned back into a chapel and had been restored by the owners in around 1901 and that was when the interior gained its wooden beams and three candelabra.
This ancient chapel has no electricity but really comes into its own on Christmas Eve, when all the candles are lit and the place is filled with people for a service.
Anyone who has been in the chapel at Othona will recognise the similarities in the arrangement of the beams and candelabra. We don’t know how this link between the chapels came about, but I could imagine that perhaps sometime in the 1930s, Adela’s nieces Phil and Eve, took a drive over to St Catherine’s chapel one day and were charmed by its interior. Phil was an artist - perhaps she made sketches to take back with them. They might then have returned to their aunt and the community at Burton, where the chapel was being planned, and they described where they had been and what they had seen and how they felt their chapel would benefit from such an addition.
It is interesting briefly to compare the chapel at Burton, built in 1937, with the layout and furnishings of the Sanctuary at the Cold Ash Settlement, which Adela Curtis and her friend Lily Cancellor had established in Berkshire 1914 - 1920. Perhaps some students from those days might have thought that the new chapel would resemble the Sanctuary, but this is clearly not the case.
The Burton chapel resembles much more the medieval type of church or chapel layout, as seen at Milton Abbas, with two spaces - a smaller space, the chancel, at the east end of a larger space, the nave, where the people would sit.
I think that this is an example of architecture reflecting a change in thought and spirituality. The Sanctuary was designed for Adela at a time when she was much more influenced by the American New Thought spiritual movement. The more ‘ancient’ feel of the chapel at Burton, on the other hand, is an indicator of her move over the years towards a more traditional Christian spirituality.
And finally, some words about lighting candles by Howard Thurman, a 20th century African-American theologian and mystic, from his book, The Mood of Christmas and other Celebrations (Friends United Press 4th ed, 2001). Like many writers of his generation, Thurman speaks of men when he means both men and women:
The true meaning of Christmas is expressed in the sharing of one’s graces in a world in which it is so easy to become callous, insensitive, and hard. Once this spirit becomes part of a man’s life, every day is Christmas, and every night is freighted with anticipation of the dawning of fresh, and perhaps holy, adventure.
I Will Light Candles This Christmas
Candles of joy, despite all sadness,
Candles of hope, where despair keeps watch.
Candles of courage for fears ever present,
Candles of peace for tempest-tossed days,
Candles of grace to ease heavy burdens.
Candles of love to inspire all my living,
Candles that will burn all the year long. [p19]
And a picture of the candelabra lit at Othona a few days ago for New Year’s Eve, when we had local musicians and singers, Tim and Angela Laycock join us for a lovely evening’s entertainment.
According to Chris Rudd, who wrote an article entitled The Rustic Mystic of Burton Bradstock, about Adela Curtis for the Dorset Yearbook of 1985, pp25-29.
I have had a very interesting email conversation today with Ali Tebbs, arising out of this post. Ali and her husband Mart were core members here at Othona West Dorset back in the 1970s and they knew Adela Curtis' nieces, Phil and Eve, who then lived next door. Ali and Mart went to St Catherine's Chapel back then because Phil and Eve encouraged them to do so. Ali told me that not only were the candelabra copied from St Catherine's but also some large candle holders, which we still have but don't always have in the chapel at Othona. I did a bit more digging around and rediscovered a newspaper article from the dedication of the chapel at Burton in 1938 and this article mentions both the candelabra and the candlesticks and also that Phil did drawings of them.
I'm very grateful to Ali and Mart for responding to the post and for sharing their memories of Phil and Eve from years ago and the connection with St Catherine's chapel. It brings it all a bit closer.
Thank you for more insights and reflections Liz, and especially for the writing from Howard Thurman which I had not encountered before. Happy Epiphany!