From English to Anglican Use: Liturgy, Ceremonial, and Architecture in the Church of England from 1899 to 1965

The period between 1899 and 1965 was a particularly fertile one as regards the architecture and ceremonial of the Church of England. A movement calling itself the English Use arose seeking to revive the aesthetics of the late middle ages and using the Ornaments Rubric of the Book of Common Prayer as its authority. Led by scholars such as Vernon Staley and Percy Dearmer, and supported by a host of publications, including those of the Alcuin Club, this movement brought about a transformation in the manner of performance of the ceremonies of worship according to the Prayer Book. The work of architects like Ninian Comper, Temple Moore, and Charles Nicholson and stained glass designers such as J.N.C. Bewsey contributed the appropriate visual context. Alongside this visual shift came a change in the sound-world of Anglican worship, prompted by the publication of The English Hymnal and various supplements to worship which emphasised plainchant and a revived English choral tradition. The end result of the English Use movement was to transform the worship of the Church of England, creating a distinctive approach to liturgy and art which was only eclipsed in the later 1960s when clergy such as Peter Hammond and architects such as Maguire & Murray began to question the received tradition.