Ernest Geldart [commonly known as Rev. Ernest Geldart; Father Ernest Geldart; and as Rev. E. Geldart] was born in Holloway, Middlesex [now London] England on 2 May 1848 and was articled to Alfred Waterhouse (1830-1905) in London in 1864. He remained at Waterhouse's office until 1871 when he left to study theology at King's College London. He was ordained a deacon in 1873 and a priest in 1875. After various curacies, he was appointed rector of the Church of Saint Nicholas, Little Braxted, Essex in 1881.
Following his appointment Geldart set about decorating the church with a series of paintings and murals. He subsequently worked on the alteration, decoration or restoration of nine other churches in Essex and several others elsewhere in the country over the next two decades. He also designed the rood screen for St. Mary the Virgin in Kettlebaston, Suffolk in 1890
He was an authority on architecture and decoration, and the author of a number of books on the subject including The Art of Garnishing Churches (1882) and A Manual of Church Decoration and Symbolism (1899).
For reasons of ill-health Geldart retired from Little Braxted in 1900 and moved to Holmbury St. Mary, Surrey where he turned to design, working in stained glass and embroidery.
He died in Holmbury St. Mary, Surrey on 11 July 1929
For Geldart's work on the restoration and decoration of Essex churches see the articles by James Bettley
See also:
Historic England [links below]
Armstrong, Barrie and Armstrong, Wendy. The Arts and Crafts movement in the North West of England: a handbook. Wetherby, England: Oblong Creative Ltd., 2006
Bettley, James. 'Ernest Geldart 1848-1929) Priest and Architect' in Twenty Priests for Twenty Years, edited by Michael Yelton. London: Anglo-Catholic History Society, 2020 pp. 37-48
Bettley, James. ‘The master of Little Braxted in his prime: Ernest Geldart and Essex, 1873-1900’. Essex Archaeology and History vol. 31, 2000 pp. 169-194
Bettley, James. ‘The Reverend Ernest Geldart (1848-1929): and late nineteenth-century church decoration. Ph.D. thesis, University of London (Courtauld Institute of Art), 1999.
Directory of British Architects 1834-1914. Compiled by Antonia Brodie, et al. Volume 1: A-K. London; New York: British Architectural Library, Royal Institute of British Architects/Continuum, 2001
Hamilton, Alec. Arts & Crafts Churches. London: Lund Humphries, 2020
James Bettley for additional information about Ernest Geldart