Father Jerome the Hermit-Architect
Lifestyles of the Famous

Lifestyles of the Famous
John Hawes, the award-winning English architect, became Father Jerome, a religious hermit. His churches and buildings can be found in many of the Family Islands. However he was also a man who believed in equality and humanity, and on Cat Island and other spots around the Bahamas, you'll get to know the man and his works.

Instructions:

John C. Hawes was first trained as an architect, and practiced his trade in London for a while before he gave up and became an Anglican Missionary. He was soon sent to the Bahamas to help rebuild churches that had been destroyed in a hurricane, and got hooked somehow on building churches: He later converted to the Roman Catholic Church and was sent to Western Australia, where he designed and built a number of impressive religious structures (now mostly ruins), but after a spell gave up and absconded to Cat Island in 1938, living as a lonely hermit in his self-designed Hermitage until his final days.
What do you think might have brought about this change of lifestyle and final commitment to live a life of poverty as a Catholic? A good book to refer to is "The Hermit of Cat Island", by Peter Anson. Some of Father's Jerome's works, still lovingly preserved in the Bahamas, can be found in the following locations:
* Clarence Town, Long Island
* St. Francis of Assissi Catholic Church, Cat Island
* Hermitage/Mount Alvernia, Cat Island
* St Augustine's Monastery, Nassau, New Providence
When in the Bahamas, visit these sites. Especially examine the architecture--a far cry from the usual stoic Gothic features you normally associate with churches and monasteries--keeping in mind that the man was first and foremost a well-trained and talented architect.
Father Jerome's life was also exemplary: Ask people in the villages and townships nearby, as there are many stories of his kindness and fights for racial equality. If you wish, keep a written or visual diary of your visits. This journey through the man's lifestyle, buildings and churches will be rewarding and heartwarming.

Supplies & Materials

For further information on the life and works of Father Jerome (aka John Hawes), there are two major sources to consult: "Between Devotion and Design: The Architecture of John Cyril Hawes 1876-1956", by John J. Taylor (2001), and "The Conscious Stone: A Biography of John C. Hawes", by A.G. Evans (1984)


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