Antony Bridge
Encyclopedia
The Very Reverend
Antony ("Tony") Cyprian Bridge (5 September 1914 – 23 April 2007) was a British
artist who became a Church of England
priest. He was Dean of Guildford Cathedral
for 18 years, from 1968 to 1986. He was widely recognised for his brilliant and unconventional preaching.
Bridge's father was Royal Navy
Commander
Cyprian Dunscomb Charles Bridge. Bridge and his younger brother, Nigel
, were educated at Marlborough College
. His brother became a barrister
and then a judge, serving as a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary
from 1980 to 1992.
After school, where his artistic talent had been recognised, Bridge studied at the Royal Academy School of Art, where he was influenced by post-Impressionism
. Living on a small private income, he became an artist in the 1930s. For a period, he shared a studio with Dylan Thomas
, and he spent the summers from 1934 to 1937 in Sark
, Channel Islands
, in the colony of artists which included Mervyn Peake
and Peter Scott
.
Bridge enlisted as a private in the British Army
on the outbreak of the Second World War
in 1939. He was commissioned in the Buffs in 1940, and served in Egypt
and North Africa
, interpreting aerial photographs
. He joined the staff at the School of Military Intelligence at Matlock in Derbyshire
in 1943. He was demobilised in 1945 in the rank of major.
He returned to painting after the war, and exhibited in London, but his wartime experiences had affected him profoundly: he found his earlier atheism
dissolving, being replaced by a strong Christian
belief. He described his conversion in his book, One Man's Advent, published in 1985.
Bridge decided to see holy orders
: in an interview with the Archbishop of Canterbury
Geoffrey Fisher
he said that he did not really want to become a priest, but could see little alternative. He studied at Lincoln Theological College
from 1953, and was ordained as a priest in the Church of England
in 1955. He moved to Romney Marsh
to become curate
of Hythe
in Kent
. He was appointed as vicar
of Christ Church at Lancaster Gate
in Paddington
in 1958. Prostitution was prevalent in his parish, but it also contained many young professionals living in bedsit
s. He preached on intellectual themes, such as the theological purpose of Picasso and Iris Murdoch
, and brought in large congregations. Despite his modern approach to preaching, he deplored the retreat of prayer and mystery in the Church, and the loss of its Church's musical and liturgical heritage.
He was appointed as Dean of Guildford Cathedral
in 1968, only 7 years after the new cathedral was consecreated, serving in that post until 1986. He took little pleasure in his administrative duties, but continued to enjoy preaching.
He was a member of the advisory council of the Victoria and Albert Museum
from 1976 to 1979, and also lectured on Greek and Turkish art on cruises in the Mediterranean. He wrote seveal books, including Theodora: Portrait in a Byzantine Landscape (1978), The Crusades (1980), Suleiman the Magnificent (1983) and Richard the Lionheart (1989).
He retired in 1986, and became a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries
.
Bridge married twice. He married fellow artist Brenda Lois Streatfeild in 1937. They had a son and two daughters together. She was active in the work of the Samaritans until her death in 1995. Bridge married a second time in 1996, to Diana Joyce Redhead. He was survived by his second wife, and his three children from his first marriage.
Very Reverend
The Very Reverend is a style given to certain religious figures.*In the Roman Catholic Church, by custom, priests who hold positions of particular note: e.g...
Antony ("Tony") Cyprian Bridge (5 September 1914 – 23 April 2007) was a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
artist who became a Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
priest. He was Dean of Guildford Cathedral
Guildford Cathedral
The Cathedral Church of the Holy Spirit, Guildford is the Anglican cathedral at Guildford, Surrey, England.-Construction:Guildford was made a diocese in its own right in 1927, and work on its new cathedral, designed by Sir Edward Maufe, began nine years later, with the foundation stone being laid...
for 18 years, from 1968 to 1986. He was widely recognised for his brilliant and unconventional preaching.
Bridge's father was Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
Commander
Commander
Commander is a naval rank which is also sometimes used as a military title depending on the individual customs of a given military service. Commander is also used as a rank or title in some organizations outside of the armed forces, particularly in police and law enforcement.-Commander as a naval...
Cyprian Dunscomb Charles Bridge. Bridge and his younger brother, Nigel
Nigel Bridge, Baron Bridge of Harwich
Nigel Cyprian Bridge, Baron Bridge of Harwich PC was a British barrister and judge. Bridge was the presiding judge at the trial of the Birmingham six in 1975, the verdict of which was quashed by the Court of Appeal in 1991, and he later served as a Law Lord.-Early and private life:Bridge's father...
, were educated at Marlborough College
Marlborough College
Marlborough College is a British co-educational independent school for day and boarding pupils, located in Marlborough, Wiltshire.Founded in 1843 for the education of the sons of Church of England clergy, the school now accepts both boys and girls of all beliefs. Currently there are just over 800...
. His brother became a barrister
Barrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
and then a judge, serving as a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary
Lord of Appeal in Ordinary
Lords of Appeal in Ordinary, commonly known as Law Lords, were appointed under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 to the House of Lords of the United Kingdom in order to exercise its judicial functions, which included acting as the highest court of appeal for most domestic matters...
from 1980 to 1992.
After school, where his artistic talent had been recognised, Bridge studied at the Royal Academy School of Art, where he was influenced by post-Impressionism
Post-Impressionism
Post-Impressionism is the term coined by the British artist and art critic Roger Fry in 1910 to describe the development of French art since Manet. Fry used the term when he organized the 1910 exhibition Manet and Post-Impressionism...
. Living on a small private income, he became an artist in the 1930s. For a period, he shared a studio with Dylan Thomas
Dylan Thomas
Dylan Marlais Thomas was a Welsh poet and writer, Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 11 January 2008. who wrote exclusively in English. In addition to poetry, he wrote short stories and scripts for film and radio, which he often performed himself...
, and he spent the summers from 1934 to 1937 in Sark
Sark
Sark is a small island in the Channel Islands in southwestern English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. It is a royal fief, geographically located in the Channel Islands in the Bailiwick of Guernsey, with its own set of laws based on Norman law and its own parliament. It has a population...
, Channel Islands
Channel Islands
The Channel Islands are an archipelago of British Crown Dependencies in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two separate bailiwicks: the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey...
, in the colony of artists which included Mervyn Peake
Mervyn Peake
Mervyn Laurence Peake was an English writer, artist, poet and illustrator. He is best known for what are usually referred to as the Gormenghast books. They are sometimes compared to the work of his older contemporary J. R. R...
and Peter Scott
Peter Scott
Sir Peter Markham Scott, CH, CBE, DSC and Bar, MID, FRS, FZS, was a British ornithologist, conservationist, painter, naval officer and sportsman....
.
Bridge enlisted as a private in the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
on the outbreak of the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
in 1939. He was commissioned in the Buffs in 1940, and served in Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
and North Africa
North Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
, interpreting aerial photographs
Aerial photography
Aerial photography is the taking of photographs of the ground from an elevated position. The term usually refers to images in which the camera is not supported by a ground-based structure. Cameras may be hand held or mounted, and photographs may be taken by a photographer, triggered remotely or...
. He joined the staff at the School of Military Intelligence at Matlock in Derbyshire
Derbyshire
Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...
in 1943. He was demobilised in 1945 in the rank of major.
He returned to painting after the war, and exhibited in London, but his wartime experiences had affected him profoundly: he found his earlier atheism
Atheism
Atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities. In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities...
dissolving, being replaced by a strong Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
belief. He described his conversion in his book, One Man's Advent, published in 1985.
Bridge decided to see holy orders
Holy Orders
The term Holy Orders is used by many Christian churches to refer to ordination or to those individuals ordained for a special role or ministry....
: in an interview with the Archbishop of Canterbury
Archbishop of Canterbury
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...
Geoffrey Fisher
Geoffrey Fisher
Geoffrey Francis Fisher, Baron Fisher of Lambeth, GCVO, PC was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1945 to 1961.-Background:...
he said that he did not really want to become a priest, but could see little alternative. He studied at Lincoln Theological College
Lincoln Theological College
Lincoln Theological College was a theological college in Lincoln, United Kingdom.-History:It opened on 25 January 1874. It was also known as Scholae Cancellarii. The building on Drury Lane closed in 1995, after having its permit for ordination training withdrawn by the Church of England due to low...
from 1953, and was ordained as a priest in the Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
in 1955. He moved to Romney Marsh
Romney Marsh
Romney Marsh is a sparsely populated wetland area in the counties of Kent and East Sussex in the south-east of England. It covers about 100 mi ² .-Quotations:*“As Egypt was the gift of the Nile, this level tract .....
to become curate
Curate
A curate is a person who is invested with the care or cure of souls of a parish. In this sense "curate" correctly means a parish priest but in English-speaking countries a curate is an assistant to the parish priest...
of Hythe
Hythe, Kent
Hythe , is a small coastal market town on the edge of Romney Marsh, in the District of Shepway on the south coast of Kent. The word Hythe or Hithe is an Old English word meaning Haven or Landing Place....
in Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
. He was appointed as vicar
Vicar
In the broadest sense, a vicar is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior . In this sense, the title is comparable to lieutenant...
of Christ Church at Lancaster Gate
Lancaster Gate
Lancaster Gate is a mid-19th century development in the Bayswater district of west central London, immediately to the north of Kensington Gardens. It consists of two long terraces of houses overlooking the park, with a wide gap between them opening onto a square containing a church. Further...
in Paddington
Paddington
Paddington is a district within the City of Westminster, in central London, England. Formerly a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965...
in 1958. Prostitution was prevalent in his parish, but it also contained many young professionals living in bedsit
Bedsit
A bedsit, also known as a bed-sitting room, is a form of rented accommodation common in Great Britain and Ireland consisting of a single room and shared bathroom; they are part of a legal category of dwellings referred to as Houses in multiple occupation....
s. He preached on intellectual themes, such as the theological purpose of Picasso and Iris Murdoch
Iris Murdoch
Dame Iris Murdoch DBE was an Irish-born British author and philosopher, best known for her novels about political and social questions of good and evil, sexual relationships, morality, and the power of the unconscious...
, and brought in large congregations. Despite his modern approach to preaching, he deplored the retreat of prayer and mystery in the Church, and the loss of its Church's musical and liturgical heritage.
He was appointed as Dean of Guildford Cathedral
Guildford Cathedral
The Cathedral Church of the Holy Spirit, Guildford is the Anglican cathedral at Guildford, Surrey, England.-Construction:Guildford was made a diocese in its own right in 1927, and work on its new cathedral, designed by Sir Edward Maufe, began nine years later, with the foundation stone being laid...
in 1968, only 7 years after the new cathedral was consecreated, serving in that post until 1986. He took little pleasure in his administrative duties, but continued to enjoy preaching.
He was a member of the advisory council of the Victoria and Albert Museum
Victoria and Albert Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum , set in the Brompton district of The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England, is the world's largest museum of decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 4.5 million objects...
from 1976 to 1979, and also lectured on Greek and Turkish art on cruises in the Mediterranean. He wrote seveal books, including Theodora: Portrait in a Byzantine Landscape (1978), The Crusades (1980), Suleiman the Magnificent (1983) and Richard the Lionheart (1989).
He retired in 1986, and became a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries
Society of Antiquaries of London
The Society of Antiquaries of London is a learned society "charged by its Royal Charter of 1751 with 'the encouragement, advancement and furtherance of the study and knowledge of the antiquities and history of this and other countries'." It is based at Burlington House, Piccadilly, London , and is...
.
Bridge married twice. He married fellow artist Brenda Lois Streatfeild in 1937. They had a son and two daughters together. She was active in the work of the Samaritans until her death in 1995. Bridge married a second time in 1996, to Diana Joyce Redhead. He was survived by his second wife, and his three children from his first marriage.