DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.32037#0015
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.
IX
ought to take a part in his sliame; for, long since the unlucky pub-
lication of his “ Five Gothic Orders,” some inventions, scarcely less
barbarous, have been put forth by certain architects, who must after-
wards have blushed at their early productions. Unfortunately, some
of these wretched works, after being discarded from the library, have
found their way into the workshop, or the mechanic’s lodging, and
there they may continue to disseminate false taste, where it is not
likely to be soon corrected. #
Since the revival of the Gothic style, in the reign of George III.,
no abatement of public favour towards this beautiful species of
architecture has been hitlierto manifested; on the contrary, a great
number of country-seats, for the residence of the nobility and gentry,
has been raised within the last few years, in imitation of castles,
abbeys, and mansions of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. A
prodigious sum has been expended in the repair and embeliishment
of the royal castle of Windsor. Some of the principal colleges at
Oxford have been repaired with a commendable attention to their
original style, and many grievous injuries inflicted on those venerable
edifices have been amended, though not with uniform correctness.
The University of Cambridge has received still greater improvements,
by the erection of some magnificent buildings, mostly in the style of
the fifteenth century. Many new parochial churches and chapels
have been erected, in order to accommodate the increased population
of the metropolis, and of some provincial towns, in professed imitation
of our old ecelesiastical architecture. The repair of several cathedrals
has been prosecuted with becoming liberality, and a strictness of
architectural propriety heretofore unknown. Amongst these works
the chief place must doubtless be given to the restoration of the
* I very lately saw a workman of good talents diligently employed in modelling
from a most barbarous design,—a genuine specimen of tlie Langleian Gothic school,
thougli published by a celebrated architect. This ingenious man had been favoured
with the use of the book by his master, who had much better have committed it to
the fire.
b
IX
ought to take a part in his sliame; for, long since the unlucky pub-
lication of his “ Five Gothic Orders,” some inventions, scarcely less
barbarous, have been put forth by certain architects, who must after-
wards have blushed at their early productions. Unfortunately, some
of these wretched works, after being discarded from the library, have
found their way into the workshop, or the mechanic’s lodging, and
there they may continue to disseminate false taste, where it is not
likely to be soon corrected. #
Since the revival of the Gothic style, in the reign of George III.,
no abatement of public favour towards this beautiful species of
architecture has been hitlierto manifested; on the contrary, a great
number of country-seats, for the residence of the nobility and gentry,
has been raised within the last few years, in imitation of castles,
abbeys, and mansions of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. A
prodigious sum has been expended in the repair and embeliishment
of the royal castle of Windsor. Some of the principal colleges at
Oxford have been repaired with a commendable attention to their
original style, and many grievous injuries inflicted on those venerable
edifices have been amended, though not with uniform correctness.
The University of Cambridge has received still greater improvements,
by the erection of some magnificent buildings, mostly in the style of
the fifteenth century. Many new parochial churches and chapels
have been erected, in order to accommodate the increased population
of the metropolis, and of some provincial towns, in professed imitation
of our old ecelesiastical architecture. The repair of several cathedrals
has been prosecuted with becoming liberality, and a strictness of
architectural propriety heretofore unknown. Amongst these works
the chief place must doubtless be given to the restoration of the
* I very lately saw a workman of good talents diligently employed in modelling
from a most barbarous design,—a genuine specimen of tlie Langleian Gothic school,
thougli published by a celebrated architect. This ingenious man had been favoured
with the use of the book by his master, who had much better have committed it to
the fire.
b