This was in several ways a most remarkable lecture by Michael Hall, author of a magisterial biography of Bodley, arguably the greatest figure in the later Gothic revival in England. First, while Michael discussed briefly other works by Bodley in Kent, and set them in the context of Bodley’s development as a church architect, most of the talk was about a single building which no longer exists – St Michael’s Folkestone. Second, the talk was the product of a piece of original research which Michael had done for the occasion. It is to be hoped that Michael Hall will publish this material, which relates to an important episode in Kent’s 19th century ecclesiastical history, so that it can be available to a wider audience.
