Morris, William: Architecture and history: [a paper read before the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings, on July 1, 1884] (London, 1900)

Westminster
Abbey,

of stupidity, culminating in the last mentioned
wholesale destruction of the thirteenth/century
masons' work.
Sir Gilbert (then Mr,) Scott was appointed ar/
chitect of the Abbey in 1849, by which time the
secondperiod of architectural Gothic 'knowledge'
had arrived. He 'carefully restored' the Chapter
H ouse, that is, he made it (we are speaking of the
exterior now), a modern building,imitatingwith
about as much success as is possible in such cases
the work ofthe thirteenth century. It has no longer
any claim to be considered a work of art; it is the
architect's architecture, the work of the office, in
which the executants are in no degree taken into
council.
The work of 'restoring' the exterior of the Church
was carried on by Mr, Pearson, His work on the
south side of the Church is nowpretty much com/
plete, and is of the same quality as Sir Gilbert
Scott's, Butnot satisfiedwith the eighteenth cen/
tury transmogrification ofthe north transept(who
could be ?) and driven by the necessity of making
some structural repairs, he carried on the idea of
making a conjectural restoration ofthe north tran/
sept, which was begun by Sir Gilbert Scott, This
work has nowbeen accomplished, & he who runs
may read.
The result is most unsatisfactory. Admitting that
the eighteenth/century work was in no way good
as an independent work of architecture, it was
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