Eric Gill (1882-1940) 

1: Life - brief summary

1882

born at Brighton

1897

moved to Chichester (Chichester Technical and Art School)

1900

in London for architectural/stonemasonry/lettering training, the last with Edward Johnston [London Underground typeface]

1907-1924

lived and worked at Ditchling, Sussex

1913

converted to Catholicism

1924-28

lived and worked at Capel-y-ffin, S.Wales

1928-40

lived and worked at Pigotts, Bucks

2: Chief works

1901-

many inscriptions (1000+), prints (1000+), typefaces, drawings

1913-18

Stations of the Cross, Westminster Cathedral

1920’s

many war memorials

1930’s

architectural sculptures (e.g. BBC Broadcasting House 1931, Palais des Nations, Geneva 1938, Guildford Cathedral 1938-9)

3: The St Alban’s Stations

The Stations of the Cross at St Alban’s (installed 1938-45) are one of four known sets of Stations by Gill and the only one in an Anglican church. The others are at Westminster Cathedral (1913-18), the Church of St  Cuthbert , Heaton, Bradford (1921-24) and the Church of Our Lady and St Peter, Leatherhead, Surrey (1924-5). All the sets use the same fourteen scenes standard for Stations; the other three are all sculptural bas-reliefs carved into lighter-coloured stone, whereas the elegantly incised images of the Oxford set, in effect engraved on slightly darker polished stone and coloured with red and blue (some faded over the years), allow Gill to use his brilliant graphic talents even more effectively.

4. Further reading

Fiona MacCarthy, Eric Gill ­: A Lover's Quest  for Art and God (1989)

Christopher Skelton, Eric Gill: The Engravings (1990)

David Peace, Eric Gill: The Inscriptions (1994)

Judith Collins, Eric Gill: The Sculpture (1998).

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