Westminster is a centre of politics, but it is also a bastion of religion and the nexus between the two. There is no pretend separation of church and state here – King Charles is the undisputed head of both.
The House of Lords staff restaurant, for example, may be the only parliamentary canteen in the world where you will routinely find bishops dressed in full regalia tucking into a carvery lunch. The dressing of clerics is also a niche Westminster industry, and one where intrigue abounds.
Behind Westminster Abbey and through the back of Dean’s Yard lies a warren of side streets housing all manner of religious organisations and political think tanks. Tufton Street is the place to visit for religious garments; a kind of saintly Savile Row.
J Wippell & Company was one of Westminster’s great clerical dressers for 235 years but it never fully recovered from the pandemic and shut in 2023. Since 1929 it had been based at 11 Tufton Street in a building that was, reputedly, once a home for people disparaged at the time as “fallen women”.
Echoes of US politics in South Korea standoff between executive and judicial powers
‘It’s like Wall Street in the 1980s’: consolidation of Westminster’s clerical rag trade raises the spirits of some
Justin Trudeau promised ‘sunny ways’ but could not fulfil his lofty ambitions
Trump comes full circle as Washington marks anniversary of Capitol riot
Last summer, the Wippell trading name was taken over by its rival, Watts & Co, which operates from Faith House at 7 Tufton Street. Number 11 has since been acquired by the prestigious Westminster School, which apparently plans to turn it into a performing arts centre.
The operations of the two grand dames of Westminster’s clerical dressing industry are now consolidated in the Watts building four doors down.
Watts is to the Westminster clerical rag trade what Huntsman is to Savile Row. The business, which recently celebrated its 150th anniversary, sells high-end products with luxury prices to match. Off-the-peg sets of clerical Mass garments start at about £1,275 (€1,537) for a stock rig-out for a spoken “low Mass”. Prices run up to £4,500 for a stock set suitable for a ceremonial or sung “high Mass”.
A bespoke Watts cope, an ornate religious cloak worn by Anglican and Catholic clerics on special occasions, costs from £3,650 to £9,780, according to the company’s website. A bespoke cassock, a dark overcoat worn by clerics, costs £945. Saving souls isn’t cheap.
Some British clerics seeking more affordable alternatives look north to J&M Sewing in Newcastle, a mostly-online business that sells cassocks and preaching vestments for less than £300. But this business, too, has just been bought out by its more prestigious Westminster rival.
Richard Coles is the former Communards musician-turned-Anglican priest who charmed television audiences recently in the I’m a Celebrity jungle reality show. Last week he had some juicy gossip for his followers on social media platform X.
“News arrives that Watts & Co of Westminster, clerical outfitters since 1874, has not only taken over its neighbour and competitor Wippell’s, but [also] the budget Newcastle competitor J&M Sewing. This is like Wall Street in the 80s,” he said, tongue firmly in cheek.
“Hmmm, we can’t all afford Watts prices,” replied Rev Fiona Souter, the chaplain of the University of Hertfordshire, who added a “confused face” emoji to her tweet.
[ Richard Coles: ‘Do you know who Shane MacGowan reminded me of? Maria Callas’Opens in new window ]
J&M Sewing appears to be still operating with no hitches, but a quick perusal of documents filed in the UK’s Companies House shows Coles was indeed correct. Watts sealed a buyout of J&M Sewing at the end of October, according to shareholder files inspected by The Irish Times.
Robert Hoare, the fifth generation of his family to run Watts, recorded a fascinating podcast interview in recent weeks with Living Church, an Anglican magazine based in Wisconsin in the US. He recalled walking into the business on his first day on the job in 2010, where he was greeted by his aunt who had a cigarette in one hand and a mug of sherry in the other.
He set about modernising the business and took control in June 2016. That week, on the same day as the Brexit referendum, the river Thames flooded Watts and almost killed the business, which has provided garments for coronations and royal weddings for more than 100 years.
“We had over two feet of water,” Hoare told Living Church. “When I arrived in the morning there was a 16th-century chasuble we were looking at the previous evening, and it was floating on the surface.”
He has since rebuilt Watts and is now expanding it along with his co-owner and sister, Marie-Severine de Caraman Chimay. He said the rise of women Anglican clergy and growth of ceremonial Latin Masses among Catholics had opened up new opportunities, even as religion declines overall.
Hoare also predicted that the change wrought by the growth of technology could have an impact: “There’s going to be a lot of people who are going to be very lost because of such change. If you look at history in times of great technological change, there’s always a move back towards spirituality.”