A Victorian Novel in Stone

Wall Street Journal ^ | March 21, 2009 | Rosemary Hill

[Lorianne]

The British Houses of Parliament stand beside the Thames, a symbol of London itself. Their silhouette, culminating in the great clock tower that houses Big Ben, is famous all over the world. Yet this is a building that came about by accident and whose precise authorship was for many years clouded by controversy. Its proper name is the Palace of Westminster, for it replaced the medieval palace, begun by Edward the Confessor, where from the 13th century onward Parliament habitually met. Over the years the old building was expanded, altered, filled in and divided until it had sprawled into a higgledy-piggledy mess, with several shops and a pub jammed up against the walls.

Everyone agreed that it should be replaced, but no one could decide exactly how. Then, on the night of Oct. 16, 1834, fate intervened. Fire engulfed the old palace -- and even while the ruins still smoldered, debate raged about how it should be rebuilt. This was a moment, on the brink of the Victorian era, when taste was on the turn. Classical architecture, long considered the only suitable style for a public building, was losing ground to the Gothic. For the generation who had grown up reading the romances of Walter Scott, the medieval style seemed to summon up a noble national past and to point toward a better future, free of the corruption associated with the dying days of Georgian England. So the new palace was Gothic and intended to be a model, as one gentleman of taste, William Hamilton, put it, "a part and parcel of the intellect of the age."

[Andyman]

Great article, thanks. I can visit FR 10 times a day and if I find an article like this once a month, it will have been worthwhile.

[LucyT]

[Lorianne]

You’re welcome. I post history and/or achitecture article whenever I can find one.

[SuziQ]

Very interesting article! I like reading about architecture. I bought a book for SirKit for Christmas called “Get Your House Right”, and it is about the classical elements in construction. It points out how some homes being built today, that are supposed to mimic classical styles, get it all wrong; usually because of proportion. Fascinating book!

[Lorianne]

That’s a great book!

[SunkenCiv]

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