A history of the Gothic revival : an attempt to show how the taste for mediæval architecture, which lingered in England during the two last centuries, has since been encouraged and developed

Preface

If any preface to this book be needed, it should perhaps take the form of an ample apology for the time which has elapsed between its original announcement and its publication. During that interval, and in such leisure as more urgent duties left at my disposal, I gradually realised the difficulties of the task which I had undertaken.

It has been said of contemporary history that its events are less easy to ascertain with accuracy than those of past time. For my own part, and in reference to this work, I can testify to the fact that much information which I imagined might be obtained for the asking has cost me more trouble to procure than that which required literary research.

As it is, I fear that the following pages will be found deficient in many details, the omission of which I regret, not because it affects in any material degree the thread of my narrative, but because in describing works of equal merit or importance I had hoped to bestow an equal attention on each, and this, in the absence of necessary particulars respecting some of them, has not always been possible.

VI

Preface.

If I have not ventured to dwell at any length on the present prospects of the Revival, or attempted to enter into details respecting the application of Medieval design to the specific requirements of domestic and ecclesiastical architecture, it is from a conviction that I could add little or nothing to w^hat has been already said on these points. Mr. G. G. Scott’s ‘ Remarks on Secular and Domestic Architecture,’ and Mr. Beresford-Hope’s ^ English Cathedral of the Nineteenth Century,’ are works so exhaustive in their nature, and so practical in their aim, that they leave scarcely a plea to urge or a suggestion to advance in the interest of modern Gothic.

My own object, as will be seen, is of a different kind.

For some years past it has seemed to me that the causes which brought about, and the events which attended, one of the most remarkable revolutions in national art that this country has seen were worthy of some record, if only to serve as a link between the past and future history of English Architecture. In attempting to supply this record, it was my intention from the first to chronicle facts rather than offer criticisms, and where I have departed from this rule it has been for the most part in the case of works which illustrate some marked change in the progress of the Revival.

I felt, as my book advanced, that technical descriptions

Preface.

vii

of even noteworthy buildings would, if frequently repeated, become tedious to the unprofessional reader. For this reason I have in the majority of instances confined such descriptions to the Tabulated List appended to this volume, in which will be found a selection from the most remarkable structures of a Medieval character erected by various architects during the last fifty years, chronologically arranged.

In the choice of these examples I have been guided by various considerations ; the date of a building, its local influence on public taste, or the novel character of its design frequently rendering it, in relation to my purpose, an object of greater interest than many others of more intrinsic importance. This explanation will, 1 trust, be sufficient to account for the absence of many works of acknowledged excellence from my List, which, as it is, has reached a length far beyond what I had anticipated when I began to compile it.

Little or no mention has been made of ^ Restorations ’ — partly because it would have been difficult to draw a definite line between those which have been a simple repair of old buildings, and others which have required archaeological skill in execution, but chiefly because in either case such works cannot be said to represent, except indirectly, the genuine progress of modern architecture.

The large proportion of engravings which illustrate build-

Preface.

viii

ings erected between i860 and 1870 as compared with those of former years has prevented their even distribution over the volume. This is hardly satisfactory, but it will probably be considered a less evil than the only possible alternative, viz. their separation from the text to which they relate. I may here observe that the size of these woodcuts does not permit them, though very fairly executed, to convey more than a general idea of the designs represented, and that, like photographic portraits, they never flatter the original. If my readers will kindly remember this, I make no doubt that the architects concerned will be equally indulgent.

To the Editor of the ^Building News ’ I am indebted for permission to incorporate with this volume a small portion of its contents, which originally appeared in that journal. To many friends, who have kindly helped me with information and suggestions, my best acknowledgments are due for their assistance and advice.

Charles L. Eastlake.

6 Upper Berkeley Street West,

Hyde Park, W.

Chapter I

Ancient and Modern Art — Effect of Civilisation — Decline of Mediaeval Art — Elizabethan Architecture — Dodsworth andDugdale — The ‘ Monasticon Anglicanum’ — Hollar and King — Illustrations of the * Monasticon ’ — Inigo Jones — Archbishop Laud — Durham Churches — Sir Henry Wotton — Antiquaries of the Seventeenth Century — Dugdale’s ‘History of St. PaulV — Old St. Paul’s Italianised — Royal Commission on the Cathedral— The Fire of London ...... pages 1-19

Chapter II

Anthony a Wood — The'Athenae Oxonienses ’ — Transition of Style — Sir Christopher Wren-— His Report on Salisbury Cathedral— Seventeenth Century Gothic — Works at Oxford — Thomas Holt— Seventeenth Century Buildings at Oxford — University College— Tom Tower, Christchurch — Brasenose College — Charles Church, Plymouth — Old and New St. Paul’s — Wren’s Work at Westminster — St. Mary Aldermary — St. Dunstan’s-in-the-East — St. Michael’s, Cornhill — Death of Wren . 20-41

Chapter III

Horace Walpole — His Taste for Gothic— Strawberry Hill — Description of the Building — Character of Walpole’s Gothic— Pedantry of the Renaissance — Batty Langley — Gothic Architecture ‘improved’ — The Five Orders Gothicised — -Batty Langley’s Designs . ... . . . . . 42-54

Chapter IV

The Georgian Era — Additions to Hampton Court — Eighteenth Century Gothic- — Costessy Hall, Norfolk — The Revival in Scotland— William Beckford — Fonthill Abbey — Literature of the Revival— Grose’s ‘Antiquities of England and Wales’ — Carter’s Works — -Hearne’s ‘ Antiquities of Great Britain ’ — Gough’s ‘Sepulchral Monuments’ Bentham and Willis — Their ‘History of Gothic and Saxon Architecture’ . 55-71

X

Contents.

Chapter V

Difficulties of Classification — The Works of Nash and James Wyatt — Country Mansions — Belvoir Castle — Elvaston Hall — Donnington Hall — Hawarden Castle — Ditton Park — Eaton Hall — Seldon House — Eastnor Castle — Sir Robert Smirke — John Britton — His early Life and Literary Career — The ‘Beauties of Wiltshire/ ‘Antiquities of Great Britain/ and ‘Cathedral Antiquities’ — Britton’s ‘Autobiography’ — Pugin and Willson — Their ‘Specimens of Gothic Architecture’ — The Age of Plagiarism ....... pages 72-90

Chapter VI

A Retrospect — ^James Essex — Wyatt’s Professional Practice— ^His ‘ Improvements ’ and Restorations— Old and Modern Sculpture — Restoration of Henry VII. ’s Chapel — Public Confidence in Wyatt — New College Chapel, Oxford— John Carter — His Antiquarian Tastes — His Letters in the ‘ Gentleman’s Magazine ’ — Effect of Carter’s RemonstranceT— William Atkinson — Cottingham’s Works — ^J. C. Buckler — His Additions to Costessy Hall — His Description of Magdalen College . . 91--1 1 1

Chapter VII

Sir Walter Scott — The Waverley Novels — Their Effect on the Revival — Progress of Mediaeval Sentiment — Domestic Architecture — The Church of ‘ the Period ’ — Dr. Milner — The ‘ Antiquities of Winchester ’ — Milner’s Literary Works — His Attack on Wyatt — Thomas Rickman — St. George’s Church, Birmingham — Rickman’s Literary Works — ^John Shaw — Christ’s Hospital — A. Poynter — St. Katherine’s Hospital — Salvin’s Works — Scotney Castle — Dr. Whewell — Foreign Gothic . 112-131

Chapter VIII

The Pointed Arch Question — Theories as to the Origin of Gothic— Modern Gothic Sculpture — Classification of Styles — Ecclesiological Studies — Proprieties of Design — Edward Blore — His Early Life and Studies — His ‘ Monumental Remains’ — His Professional Works — James Savage — St. Luke’s Church, Chelsea — Characteristics of the Building ........ 1 32-144

Chapter IX

A. N. Welby Pugin — His early Life — His Theatrical Tastes — St. Marie’s Grange — Scarisbrick Hall — Pugin’s Literary Works — His Tour in Italy — Character of Pugin’s Designs — His Facility of Invention — St. Giles’s Church, Cheadle — St. George’s Cathedral, Westminster — St. Chad’s Church, Birmingham — Stained Glass in St. Chad’s — Character of Ancient Glass — Church of St. Wilfrid, Manchester — St. Marie’s Church, Liverpool — Pugin’s House at Ramsgate — St. Augustine’s Church . 145-165

Contents,

XI

Chapter X

Sir Charles Barry — His Early Works— His Views on Church Architecture — The Houses of Parliament Competition — Barry’s Design selected- — The unsuccessful Designs — 'St. Stephen’s Chapel — Westminster Hall — Ingenuity of Barry’s Plan — Opposition to Barry’s Scheme — Mr. Hamilton’s Protest and Arguments — Anti- Mediaeval Prejudices — Pseudo-moral Objections— Colonel Jackson’s Reply — Commencement of the Work —Character of Barry’s Design — Its Effects on the Revival, and Influence on Art- Manufacture ....... PAGES 166-186

Chapter XI

Revival of Ecclesiastical Architecture— The 'Incorporated Society for Promoting the Building of Churches’- — 'Commissioners’ Churches’ — Evangelical Scruples — Utilitarian Objections — Ecclesiastical Economy — Secular Apathy— Condition of Church Service— The Cambridge Camden Society— Publication of the ‘ Ecclesiologist ’ — Neale’s ' Hints to Churchwardens ’ — -Opposition to the Cambridge Camden Society — Its Change of Name — Restoration of the Temple Church — Dr. Chandler — The Oxford Society- — Their Effect on the Revival— Mr. Beresford-Hope — Kilndown Church ........ 187-208

CHAPTER XH.

A.D. 1840-1850 — Architects of the Revival — Lincoln’s Inn Hall — Character of the Design — Mr. Drake’s Lectures — Bartholomew’s Essay on the Decline of Excellence in the Structure of English Buildings — Exhibition of Mediaeval Art — Wilton Church and Cheltenham College — Publication of 'The Builder’ — The Works of Scott and Ferrey — Church of St. Giles’s, Camberwell- — R. C. Carpenter — His Churches at Birmingham and elsewhere — Mr. Butterfield — St. Augustine’s College, Canterbury ........ 209-228

Chapter XIII

The Rev. J. L. Petit — Mr. E. A. Freeman — Ecclesiological Symbolism— Translation of Durandus published — Nomenclature of Styles — Mr. E. Sharpe — His 'Architectural Parallels’ — His Professional Works — Paley’s 'Gothic Mouldings’ — Bowman and Crowther— Nash’s 'Mansions of England’- — Mr. R. W. Billings — His 'Baronial Antiquities of Scotland ’ — Brandon’s ' Analysis of Gothic Architecture ’ — Messrs. Hadfield andWeightman — Their Works at Manchester, Sheffield, &c. — Mr. J.J.Scoles — Church of St. Francis Xavier at Liverpool — A new Reformation . 229-245

Contents.

xii

Chapter XIV

New Churches in London — St. Andrew’s, Wells Street — St. Stephen’s, Westminster— St. Barnabas’, Pimlico — St. Mary Magdalene, Munster Square — Proposed Erection of a Model Church — All Saints’ Church, Margaret Street — Its Internal Decoration — -Criticism of the work— Yealmp ton Church — Abbey Mere, Plymouth — St. Alban’s Church, Holborn — Description of its Details — Decorative Sculpture and Painting — Chapel of Balliol College, Oxford— Keble College — Characteristics of Mr. Butterfield’s Work ....... PAGES 246-263

Chapter XV

‘Ruskinism’ — Condition of Modern Architecture — ‘The Seven Lamps’ — Claims of Italian Gothic — Mr. Ruskin as an Art Reformer — Use of Iron in visible Construction — Development of Window Tracery — ‘The Lamp of Beauty’ — Mr. Ruskin’s Critics — The Morality of Art— Proposed Limits of National Style — Character of Mr. Ruskin’s Views — ‘ The Stones of Venice’ — Divisions and Subdivisions— Mr. Ruskin as a Critic — Early Converts to Ruskinism — Introduction of Venetian Gothic 264-280

Chapter XVI

The Great Exhibition of 1851 — Its Effect on the Revival — Messrs. Deane and Woodward — The Oxford Museum — Decorative Treatment of the Building — Christ Church and Merton Colleges — Domestic and Ecclesiastical Gothic — Church Architects a.d. 1850-60 — St. Peter’s Church, Bournemouth — All Saints’ Church, Notting Hill — Character of Mr. White’s Designs — Lyndhurst Church, Hampshire — Exeter College Chapel and Library — Progress of the Revival — The Battle of the Styles . 281-297

Chapter XVII

Deficiency of Public Interest — The Architectural Exhibition — The Architectural Museum — Mr. F. Wyatt’s Works — Orchardleigh Park and Capel Manor — Mr. J. L. Pearson’s Works — Treberfydd House and Quar Wood— Mr. J. Prichard — Eatington Park — Adaptability of Italian Gothic — New Houses at Westminster— Mr. Scott on the Revival — The New Foreign Office Competition — Lord Palmerston’s Dislike to Gothic — The Manchester Assize Courts Competition — Mr. Waterhouse’s Design — The Building as executed — Ancient Art and Modern Requirements . . 298-3 1 5

CHAPTER XVHI.

Influence of Individual Taste — The Study of French Gothic — The Lille Cathedral Competition— M. Viollet-le-Duc — The ‘Dictionnairede I’Architecture Fran9aise’ — Sketches published by Shaw and Nesficld — Church of St. Francis of Assisi, Notting Hill — Church of St. James the Less, Westminster — Character of Mr. Street’s designs —

Contents.

xiii

Church of SS. Philip and James, Oxford — St. Peter’s Church, Vauxhall — Internal Decoration of St. Peter’s — Mr. H. Woodyer — St. Raphael’s College, Bristol — Church of the Holy Innocents at Highnam — St. Paul’s Church, Wokingham — Surrey County Schools — Eastbourne Convalescent Hospital- — The House of Mercy at Bovey Tracey ....... pages 316-332

Chapter XIX

A Truce to the Battle of the Styles — The Mediaevalists divided— The Eclectic and the Parish Schools — Mr. T. Hudson Turner — Parker’s 'Domestic Architecture of the Middle Ages ’ — -Unpopularity of Early Art — A Reaction in favour of Late Pointed Work — Mr. R. Norman Shaw — Leyes Wood and Glen Andred — Mr.W. E. Nesfield — Cloverley Hall — House at Farnham Royal — The Church of Rome and the Revival — Obstacles to Roman Catholic Encouragement of Gothic — Mr. G. Goldie — Abbey of St. Scholastica, Teignmouth — Roman Catholic Church of St. Mary, Kensington — Mr. Hadfield’s Works — The Revival independent of Religious Creed ........ 333-351

Chapter XX

A.D. 1860—1870 — The Works of Mr. W. Burges — Cathedral Church of St. Finbar, Cork — New Tower at Cardiff Castle — ‘ Knightshayes,’ Devon — The Dangers of Liberty in Design — Mr. E. W. Godwin’s Works — Town Halls at Northampton and Congleton —Three Schools of Modern Gothic — The University College of Wales — Balliol College, Oxford — ' Humewood,’ Wicklow — Mr. James Brooks — St. Chad’s Church, Haggerston — St. Columba, Kingsland Road — Church of the Annunciation, Christchurch-French and English types — St. Stephen’s Church, Hampstead — Mr. G. F. Bodley — Church of St. John the Baptist, Liverpool — Its Internal Decoration — Future Prospects of the Revival — Conclusion .... 352-372

Errata.

Page 102, line 22, y’i??' mezzo-relievo read mezzo-rilievo. ,, 1 9 1, „ 26 f for had read had been.

„ 243, „ 4, for latter read former.

,, 270, „ ']ifor has read have.

ILLUSTRATIONS.

The Annunciation : part of a mural painting In the chancel of All Saints’ Church, Notting Hill .......

PAGE

frontispiece

Church of St. Andrew, Plaistow, Essex .....

to face

I

Old House on Pride Hill, Shrewsbury .....

The Tom Tower, Christ Church, Oxford .....

Eaton Hall, Cheshire. The seat of the Marquis of Westminster

Scotney Castle, Sussex. The residence of Edward Hussey, Esq.

Church of St. Augustine, Ramsgate ......

Church of S. Mary, Chetwynde, Shropshire .....

z%o

College at Lancing, Sussex ......

St. John’s (R. C.) Cathedral, Salford, Manchester ....

24=5

Church of S. Stephen, Westminster . .

Belfry of S. Alban’s Church, London .....

Balliol College Chapel, Oxford . . . . .

The University Museum, Oxford ......

Lyndhurst Parish Church . . . .

South Porch of Exeter College Chapel, Oxford ....

Orchardleigh Park, Somersetshire. The seat of W. Duckworth, Esq. :

Quar Wood, Gloucestershire. The residence of the Rev. R. W. HIppisley .

Eatington Park, Warwickshire. The seat of E. P. Shirley, Esq,

Entrance to the Assize Courts, Manchester . . . . .x

Entrance to the DIgby Mortuary Chapel, Sherborne ....

Baptistery of St. Francis’ Church, Notting Hill ....

Church of S. Philip and S. James, Oxford .....

XVI

IllMstrations,

Chancel of St. John’s Church, Torquay .....

to face

PAGE

3^5

Chancel of S. Peter’s Church, Vauxhall .....

All Saints’ Hospital, Eastbourne ......

Cloverley Hall, Whitchurch, Shropshire. The seat of J. P. Heywood, Esq. .

Leyes Wood, Sussex. The seat of James W. Temple, Esq. .

J J

Abbey of St. Scholastica, Teignmouth .....

Western Doorway of St. Mary’s (R. C. pro-Cathedral) Church

Knightshayes, near Tiverton, Devon. The seat of J. H. Amory, Esq., M.P.

Part of New Buildings at Balliol College, Oxford ....

Humewood, Wicklow. The seat of W. W. Fitzwilliam Dick, Esq., M.P. .

Church of St. Chad, Haggerston ......

Church of St. Columba, Haggerston ......

Church of St. Stephen, Hampstead . .....

Portion of Nave Arcade, All Saints’ Church ....

Capital of Nave Pier, St. Alban’s Church ....

Ironwork of Chancel Railing, St. Alban’s Church

Spandrils and Arch-mouldings of Windows, Oxford Museum

Ironw’ork Capital, Oxford Museum .....

Carved Capital, Oxford Museum .....

Decorative Sculpture of Reredos, St. Peter’s Church, Bournemouth

Carved Capitals, Lyndhurst Church .....

Corbel, Exeter College Chapel, Oxford .

Dormer Window', Eatington Park, Warwickshire . . .

Chimneys, Eatington Park ......

Fireplace in House at Farnham Royal, Windsor

, 342

.1

\r

C hurch of St. A ndrcu', Plaistow, Essex, yiinir.^ /^looks, Aiihitfity 1867.

H ISTO RY

THE GOTHIC REVIVAL.

Chapter I

HE RENEWAL, in this country, of a taste for Mediaeval architecture, and the reapplication of those principles which regulate its design, represent one of the most interesting and remarkable phases in the history of art. Unlike the Italian Renaissance, which was intimately associated with, and in a great measure dependent on, the study of ancient literature, our modern English Revival fails to exhibit, even in its earliest development, many of those external causes to which we are accustomed to attribute a revolution in public taste.

To the various influences which raised this school of art from the crumbling ruins of the Roman empire to its glory in Western Europe, and then permitted it to lapse into degradation in the sixteenth century, history points with an unerring hand. But for the stranger influence which slowly though surely has rescued it from that degradation, which has enlisted such universal sympathy in its behalf, and which feids fair, in spite of ignorant and idle prejudice, to adapt it, after two hundred years of neglect and contumely, to the requirements of a mercantile people and a practical age — for this influence, indeed, if we search at all, v/e must search in more than one direction.

B

Ancient and Modern Art.

At first it may seem strange that a style of design which is intimately associated with the romance of tha world’s history should now-a-days find favour in a country distinguished above all others for the plain business-like tenour of its daily life. But this presents a paradox more obvious in a moral than in an historical sense.

It is not because England has been stigmatised as a nation of shopkeepers that she is necessarily indifferent to the progress of architecture. The fairest palaces of Venice were raised at a time when her commercial prosperity stood at its zenith, but her art and her commerce had grown up together, and if the latter was genuine and healthy, the former was unsophisticated and pure. They had had a common origin in the welfare of the State. With the decay of the State they declined. Art in the thirteenth century was no mere hobby of the educated, nor a taste which depended on antiquarian research for its perfection. It belonged to the habits, to the necessities, one might almost say to the instincts, of civilised life. Men did not then theorise on the fitness of style, or the propriety of this or that mode of decoration. There was but one style at one time — adopted, no doubt, with more or less success, according to the ability of the designer, but adopted with perfect confidence and uniformity of purpose— untrammelled by the consideration of dates or mouldings, or any of the fussiness of archaeology, and maintaining its integrity, not by the authority of private judgment, but by the free will and common acceptation of a people.

The difference of condition between ancient and modern art has a direct analogy with that which exists between ancient and modern poetry, and which has been ably illustrated by one of the greatest of our modern writers. ^ In a rude state of society,’ says Macaulay, ^ men are children with a greater variety of ideas. It is, therefore, in such a state of society that we may expect to find the poetical temperament in its highest perfection. In an enlightened age there will be much intelligence, much science, much philosophy, abundance of just classification and subtle analysis, abundance of wit and eloquence, abundance of verses,

Effect of Civilisation.

and even of good ones ; but little poetry. Men will judge and compare ; but they will not create.’

If this reasoning be just in regard to the poetry of language, it is equally so with respect to the poetry of art. As a nation, we have grown too sophisticated to enjoy either intuitively. But there is another kind of admiration which we, in common with all modern Europe, may hope to feel for both, and which is derived from and dependent on the cultivation of the human intellect. The graceful action of a child at play is mainly due to its utter artlessness. It may skip and jump and roll upon the greensward in a manner which defies our artificial sense of decorum. Yet every movement associated with that age of innocence has a charm for us. It may be free and unconventional, but never clumsy. It may be quaint or even boisterous, but never vulgar. Such is the comeliness of nature, which by-and-by is handed over to the mercies of the dancing-master, who, with fiddle in hand and toes turned outwards, proceeds to teach our little ones deportment. From that moment ensues a dreary interval of primness and awkwardness. Who has not noticed the semi-prudish gaucherie of little ladies from the age of (say) twelve to sixteen ? As a rule they stand, sit, walk, and converse with a painful air of restraint, in which all natural grace is lost in an overwhelming sense of propriety, nor is it until they ripen into womanhood that they acquire that easy confidence of manner which is at once characteristic of the most perfect breeding and the purest heart.

It is precisely such an interval as this— an interval between youthful grace and mature beauty — which must fall to the fate of every art during the progress of civilisation. But, instead of years, we need centuries of teaching to re-establish principles which were once independent of education, but which have lapsed away before the sophistry of theoretic science, or have been obliterated by the influence of a false economy. It has now come to be an universally accepted fact that the arts of design attain their greatest perfection under two conditions. We

Decliite of Mediceval Art.

must either have theories of the most refined and cultivated order, or we must have no theories at all. In the present age, when theory is everything — when volume after volume issues from the press replete with the most subtle analysis of principles which are to guide us in our estimate of the beautiful, it is hopeless to expect that men will work by the light of nature alone, and forego the influence of precedent. If the ‘ Dark Ages ' had continued dark in the ordinary sense of the epithet, what might we not have expected from the beauties of the Pointed style ? Even if literature had kept pace with art, they might have gradually emerged together with the dawn of Western civilisation. But the change, though gradual, was too thorough for such a result, and when at length the dazzling light of the Renaissance burst in upon our monasteries and cathedrals, the spirit of their magnificence faded away before the unexpected meteor. The tree of knowledge had been tasted, and it was vain to expect sustenance from the tree of life. Thenceforth, the art whose seed had been sown in the earliest period of European history — which had developed with the prosperity of nations, and borne good fruit in abundance after its kind— was doomed to wither away, neglected, into a sapless trunk— to be hedged round, indeed, by careful antiquaries, and pointed at as a curiosity, but never, as it once seemed, likely to flourish again on English soil.

And here, if it were not time to drop the metaphor, one might extend its significance yet further. For there are two theories l*especting the revival of Gothic architecture in this country. One is, that it appears among us as a new exotic plant, requiring different culture from its ancient prototype, which is supposed to have become utterly extinct. But there are those who love to think that the old parent stem never altogether lost its vitality, and that the Mediaeval tendencies which crop up among us now in this latter half of the nineteenth century may be compared to the fresh green sprouts which owe their existence to the life still lingering in some venerable forest oak.

d'he supporters of this latter theory have a great deal to urge on

Old House on Pride Hill, Slireivsbury.

From a Sketch hy C. L. Eastlakc.

Elizabethait Architecture.

their side of the question. In the first place the Renaissance school, from which we are accustomed to date the extinction of Gothic art, although it appeared in Italy with Brunelleschi at its head during the early part of the fifteenth century, was scarcely recognised in England until a hundred years later, and long after that period, even when the works of Lomazzo and Philibert de I’Orme had been translated into English, and John Shute, an architect of Queen Elizabeth’s time, had returned from Italy (whither he had been sent by his patron Dudley, Duke of Northumberland), no doubt full of conceits for, and admiration of, the new style, there was little to be seen of that style, save the incongruous details with which it became the fashion to decorate the palatial houses of the aristocracy. But though Italian stringcourses and keystones, quoins, and cornices, were introduced abundantly in the bay-windows and porticoes of the day, the main outline of the buildings to which those features belonged remained in accordance with the ancient type. This was especially the case in rural districts. The counties of Shropshire, Chester, and Stafford, bear evidence to this day, in many an old timber house which dates from the Elizabethan period, of the tenacity with which the old style held its own in regard to general arrangement, long after it had been grafted with the details of a foreign school. Even down to the reign of James L, the domestic architecture of England, as exemplified in the country houses of the nobility, was Gothic in spirit, and frequently contained more real elements of a Mediaeval character than many which have been built in modern times by the light of archaeological orthodoxy. Inigo Jones himself required a second visit to Italy before he could thoroughly abandon the use of the Pointed arch. But its days were now numbered, and when in 1633 the first stone was laid for a Roman portico to one of the finest cathedrals of the Middle Ages, the tide of national taste may be said to have completely turned, and Gothic architecture, as a practicable art, received what was then no doubt supposed to be its death-blow.

Dodsworth and Dugdale,

By a strange and fortunate coincidence of events, however, it happened that at this very time, when architects of the period had learned to despise the buildings of their ancestors, a spirit of veneration for the past was springing up among a class of men who may be said to have founded our modern school of antiquaries. Sometimes, indeed, their researches were not those of a character from which much advantage was to be expected. James I. spent a great deal of his own and his architect’s time in speculating on the origin of Stonehenge, and no doubt many ingenious theorists were content to follow the royal example. But luckily for posterity, the attention of others was drawn in a more serviceable direction. Up to this time no work of any importance had been published on the Architectural Antiquities of England. A period had arrived when it was thought necessary, if only on historical grounds, that some record of ecclesiastical establishments should be compiled. The promoters of the scheme were probably little influenced by the love of Gothic as a style. But an old building was necessarily a Gothic building, and thus it happened that, in spite of the prejudices of the age, and probably their own aesthetic predilections, the antiquarians of the day became the means of keeping alive some interest in a school of architecture which had ceased to be practically employed.

Early in the reign of Charles L, Mr. Roger Dodsworth, who appears to have belonged to a good family in Yorkshire, inspired by that love of archaeology which distinguished many gentlemen of the time, began to collect materials for a history of his native county. In the course of his research, he necessarily acquired much interesting information concerning the origin and endowments of those religious houses of the North which had been established previous to the Reformation. While Dodsworth — a man somewhat advanced in years — was engaged in this pursuit, a younger antiquarian than himself, Mr. William Dugdale, of Blythe, was similarly occupied in compiling a history of Warwickshire. Sir Henry Spelman, who knew both, and appreciated the value of their labours, perceived that, by uniting the labours of these gentlemen, a