Matthew Xuereb
Richard England defends application for monastery at Manikata
A drawing of the project proposed by architect Richard England in 1997.
Renowned architect Richard England had, in 1997, proposed a project to build a monastery adjacent to the iconic Manikata church, his own creation, The Times has learned.
Prof. England does not see any conflict between that proposal and his objection to the permit granted recently to another architect to build rooms beneath the church parvis.
A permit to build a store and a religious education room was granted in July but is being reconsidered after it was met with harsh criticism.
Prof. England together with other architects and NGOs piled pressure on the Malta Environment and Planning Authority to backtrack on its decision to grant the permit by scheduling the church and its parvis.
Prof. England had written to Environment Parliamentary Secretary Mario de Marco and the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage requesting that they issue a conservation order on the church.
“If the permit has been issued, the only way out would be to list the building. Issuing a conservation order, which means it should remain intact, is the sole possibility of rescinding the permit,” Prof. England wrote about the recent application. The permit was eventually forced into reconsideration last week when Mepa listed the Manikata church as Grade 1, safeguarding it and ensuring that any future interventions that could be carried out on the site would respect “the rich and unique architectural value of this building”.
When contacted, Prof. England insisted that the monastery he had wanted to build next to the church was designed to complement the structure and “did not in any way infringe within the parvis boundary”.
More than the extension to already existing rooms beneath the parvis, Prof. England explained that his bone of contention was that the proposed development would have definitely highly compromised the parvis with four-metre, factory-like skylights. He said this would have meant that the idea of the parvis as a piazza and a meeting place would have been lost.
The application he had filed on June 24, 1997 sought an outline development permission to construct a pastoral centre adjacent to the Manikata church. The centre would have consisted of a hall to seat 200 people and an adjacent block consisting of bedrooms, a kitchen, an office and toilets.
The application was refused because the site on which it was proposed was a scheduled area of archaeological importance with a degree of protection B, in view of important archaeological remains in the area.
According to the case officer’s report, the site adjacent to the Manikata church consists of a large virgin field to the west of the church – to its right as you are looking at the church. It says it encloses archaeological remains of different categories and periods, namely cart ruts, ancient quarries, a megalithic wall and two giren (a stone corbelled hut).
Over the past few weeks, Mepa scheduled more than 50 parish churches – those built before the 1900s were granted Grade 1 status while churches of the 20th century up until 1960 were given a Grade 2.
The Manikata church, dedicated to St Joseph, was mainly built in the 1960s but completed and consecrated in 1974. In designing the new temple, Prof. England had broken away from the traditional church design and based his concept on the then ongoing liturgical reforms promoted by Vatican Council II and the aspirations of the rural community.
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16 Comments
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Mr Joseph DeGiovanni
Aug 13th 2011, 22:52
Who paid for building that church in the first place? Was it Mr. Richard England or the people of Manikata? He who pays the piper calls the tune.
Mrs Shirley Spiteri
Aug 13th 2011, 18:14
I find Richard England's creations totally not in keeping with the architecture of the island and wish that a law could be implemented that anything that is built in Malta should at least have a facade in keeping with the beautiful old style of building and then it can be as modern as they want inside but there seems to be no or little appreciation in this country for the value of what is old and instead we continue to destroy the old and put up state of the art ugly.
Mrs C. Weitze
Aug 13th 2011, 16:25
Perhaps Mr. England should rather propose an extension to the Coradino jail. It seems more needed than another monastery, considering all these court cases ending with a suspended sentence and bail.
Astrid Vella
Aug 13th 2011, 16:16
It's funny how the presence on site of "archaeological remains of different categories and periods, namely cart ruts, ancient quarries, a megalithic wall and two giren (a stone corbelled hut)" succeeded in blocking a permit for a monastery but not for the petrol station + car wash + vehicle showroom + mechanic/panel beater whose site has an almost identical list of heritage features, including protected trees.
As usual, it's not what you know but who you know. Having the Mgarr Mayor pressing for the petrol station certainly helped. Who cares that the runoff from the petrol station could pollute the water supplies at Ghajn Rihana, a mere 250 metres away?
Mr Lawrence Fenech
Aug 13th 2011, 16:14
What are these silos?
Mr Jesmond Farrugia
Aug 13th 2011, 17:36
Water reservoirs, as it were.
Mr Martin Saliba
Aug 13th 2011, 15:39
I full agree that no smoking is allowed in public places including parks and beaches as long as i am allowed to smoke. Sounds familiar , no ?
Mr Emmanuel Ebejer
Aug 13th 2011, 15:35
Give the area to the YMCA, Abandoned Animals Association ....to anyone in need. I'm sure you'll be spoilt for choice; but a monastery!!! Pleeease!!!!!!
D. Farrugia
Aug 13th 2011, 14:17
It seems like the area occupied by today's church is less than the one depicted in the impression. If so, at least the equivalent area composed of pristine garrigue was spared at the time. The same cannot be said of course for the built/paved area which also consisted of garrigue.
Philip Bonello
Aug 13th 2011, 14:15
What sort of impact could rooms beneath the church parvis have had on the environment. If any, it would have had much less impact that what had been proposed by Prof England. Or are we all hypocrites? Does this mean that because of some people's bigotry, the people of Manikata are to remain without their church centre? Is a building designed by England an albatross round ones neck?
Mr Jesmond Farrugia
Aug 13th 2011, 13:34
Good decision, well done there.
Maria Vassallo
Aug 13th 2011, 13:20
Min jaf kieku l-Kappillan talab lill-Professur England jiddisinja c-centru tal-katekizmu u kmamar ohra ta' bzonn?
Tghid kien jinqala' dak li inqala'?
Joseph Grech Attard
Aug 13th 2011, 13:03
Is there need for an extension? Or extra rooms? Is one trying to promote Jesus Christ or to boost one's own ego?
Mr william cauchi
Aug 13th 2011, 12:16
Nothing against a monastery in Manikata, but with nearly all the other monasteries all over Malta practically 80 percent empty, do we really need another one???
There are about 45 monasteries in Malta, of which five in Rabat, six in Valletta.
Come on Curia, can't you spend your money on something more useful,
Ms Monica Muscat
Aug 13th 2011, 18:24
I agree with Mr. Cauchi. Too many monastries, too few conventuals (priests). Unless we manage to transform even such a Saintly place into a money-spinning scheme!!! Get priests and nuns from all over the world to come and have their yearly Spiritual Retirement hear! I guess that with the present spending-budget of the present tourists (I heard €0.07 per week - Wow) the priests and nuns would be a better burgain!
Joking apart, and least I get misunderstood! I do think that we have a surplus amount of convents and too few other "homes" - the aged, the homeless, the animals, the refugees, etc. Think well and hard, all those involved: Than decide.
Ramon Casha
Aug 13th 2011, 11:12
That artist's impression reminds me of Jabba's palace in Star Wars.