Architecture of England

The architecture of England is the architecture of modern England and in the historic Kingdom of England. It often includes buildings created under English influence or by English architects in other parts of the world, particularly in the English and later British colonies and Empire, which developed into the Commonwealth of Nations.

Apart from

The earliest known examples of architecture in England are the

Architecture of the

In the 11th century the Normans were among Europe's leading exponents of

Gothic architecture

The major buildings of the

From the 15th century, under the House of Tudor, the prevailing Gothic style is commonly known as Tudor architecture, being ultimately succeeded by Elizabethan architecture and Renaissance architecture under Elizabeth I (r. 1558–1603).^[11] Rickman excluded from his scheme most new buildings after Henry VIII's reign, calling the style of "additions and rebuilding" in the later 16th and earlier 17th centuries "often much debased".^[10] Architect and art historian Edmund Sharpe published in 1851 The Seven Periods of English Architecture, in which he identified a pre-Gothic Transitional Period (1145–90) after the Norman period, in which pointed arches and round arches were employed together.^[12] Focusing on the windows, Sharpe dubbed Rickman's first Gothic style the Lancet Period (1190–1245); divided the second into first the Geometrical (1245–1315) and then the Curvilinear (1315–1360); and named the third style Rectilinear (1360–1550).^[12]

This last Gothic style was typified by large windows,

Little survives of the vernacular architecture of the medieval period due to the use of perishable materials for the great majority of buildings. Most domestic buildings were built on timber frames, usually with wattle and daub infill. Roofs were typically covered with thatch; wooden shingles were also employed, and from the 12th century tile and slate came into use in some areas.^[7] Also around the 12th century, the cruck frame was introduced, increasing the size of timber-framed vernacular buildings.^[7] Typically, larger houses of this period were based around a great hall open from floor to roof. One bay at each end was split into two storeys and used for service rooms and private rooms for the owner.^[15] Even quite high up the social scale houses were small by modern standards, except for the very wealthy.^[16]

Buildings surviving from this period included

The Tudor period constitutes a transitional phase, in which the organic continuity and technical innovation of the medieval era gave way to centuries in which architecture was dominated by a succession of attempts to revive earlier styles.

The Perpendicular Gothic style reached its culmination in the reign of

Over the course of the 16th century Classical features derived from the Renaissance architecture of Italy exerted an increasing influence, initially on surface decoration but in time shaping the entire design of buildings, while the use of medieval features declined. This development gave rise to palatial stone dwellings or prodigy houses such as Hardwick Hall and Montacute House.

Style revivals

Stuart architecture

During the 17th century, the continuing advance of Classical forms overrode the eclecticism of English Renaissance architecture, which gave way to a more uniform style derived from continental models, chiefly from Italy. This entailed a retreat from the structural sophistication of Gothic architecture to forms derived from the more primitive construction methods of Classical antiquity. The style was typified by square or round-headed windows and doors, flat ceilings,

The

The later 17th century saw Baroque architecture – a version of Classicism characterised by heavy massing and ostentatiously elaborate decoration – become widespread in England. Grand Baroque-style country houses began to appear in England during the 1690s, exemplified by Chatsworth House and Castle Howard. The most significant English Baroque architects after Wren were Sir John Vanbrugh and Nicholas Hawksmoor, who adapted the Baroque style to fit English tastes in houses such as Blenheim Palace, Seaton Delaval Hall and Easton Neston.

Georgian architecture

The 18th century saw a turn away from Baroque elaboration and a reversion to a more austere approach to Classicism. This shift initially brought a return to the Italian Palladianism that had characterised the earliest manifestations of Classical architecture in England. Later

The 19th century saw a fragmentation of English architecture, as Classical forms continued in widespread use but were challenged by a series of distinctively English revivals of other styles, drawing chiefly on Gothic, Renaissance and vernacular traditions but incorporating other elements as well. This ongoing historicism was counterposed by a resumption of technical innovation, which had been largely in abeyance since the Renaissance but was now fuelled by new materials and techniques derived from the Industrial Revolution, particularly the use of iron and steel frames, and by the demand for new types of building. The rapid growth and urbanisation of the population entailed an immense amount of new domestic and commercial construction, while the same processes combined with a religious revival to bring about a resumption of widespread church building. Mechanised manufacturing, railways and public utilities required new forms of building, while the new industrial cities invested heavily in grand civic buildings and the huge expansion and diversification of educational, cultural and leisure activities likewise created new demands on architecture.

The

The new technology of iron and steel frame construction exerted an influence over many forms of building, although its use was often masked by traditional forms. It was highly prominent in two of the new forms of building that characterised Victorian architecture, railway station train sheds and glasshouses. The greatest exponent of the latter was Joseph Paxton, architect of the Crystal Palace.

In the 18th century a few English architects had emigrated to the colonies, but as the

The bombing of English cities created a housing shortage, in the post war years. To meet this many thousands (perhaps hundreds of thousands) of council houses in mock-vernacular style were built, giving working class people their first experience of private gardens and indoor sanitation. The demand was partly sated through the pre-fabrication of buildings within factories, giving rise to the "Pre-fab" .^[20]

Brutalist architecture

The reconstruction that followed the

Postmodern architecture also emerged as an attempt to enrich Modern architecture. It was especially fashionable in the 1980s, when Modernism had fallen from favour, being associated with the welfare state. Many shopping malls and office complexes for example Broadgate used this style. Notable practitioners were James Stirling and Terry Farrell, although Farrell returned to modernism in the 1990s. A significant example of postmodernism is Robert Venturi's Sainsbury Wing of the National Gallery.

Contemporary architecture

Significant recent buildings, in a variety of styles, include:

See also

• Architecture of Wales
• British industrial architecture
• List of historic buildings and architects of the United Kingdom
• List of British architects
• Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain
• Category:Lists of Grade I listed buildings in England by county
• The Georgian Group

References

• ISBN 0670801755

External links

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